Morehouse School of Medicine to Assess Mental Health of Prison Inmates Prior to Their Release

Historically Black Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta is participting in a new initiative established by Fani Willis, district attorney of Fulton County, Georgia, to help prison inmates transition to life outside, so they do not end up back behind bars. This is yet another program to say, ‘Hey, we want to release you early from prison, we want to restore you,’” Willis said. “’We want you to be a productive member of society, but we realize you have some struggles.’”

The Prison Policy Initiative says more than 40 percent of people in prisons have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder.

“What we’ve talked about is having a comprehensive mental health evaluation while they’re still incarcerated,” said Sarah Vinson, chair of psychiatry and behavioral science at Morehouse School of Medicine.

Willis said this is about getting services to those who need it and making sure they have support once they get out of prison. “We do think this is a very unique program and that it is a great way to restore some faith in the justice system, some faith in the medical profession,” she said. “To really put health services around people. I am tired of seeing that we are using our prisons and our jail systems as mental health wards.”

The program is made possible by a federal grant, and it hopes to help at least 120 people in the next year and a half.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

A Strategy for Integrating Artificial Intelligence at Historically Black Colleges & Universities

For faculty in higher education, creating a generative AI policy for usage in completing assignments is creating somewhat of a confrontation of ethics and substitutional learning.

Online Articles That May Be of Interest to JBHE Readers

Each week, JBHE will provide links to online articles that may be of interest to our readers. Here are this week’s selections.

Recent Books of Interest to African American Scholars

The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education regularly publishes a list of new books that may be of interest to our readers. The books included are on a wide variety of subjects and present many different points of view.

Higher Education Gifts or Grants of Interest to African Americans

Here is this week’s news of grants or gifts to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.

Featured Jobs