Suicide is the leading cause of death in jails, highlighting the urgent need for effective prevention strategies to protect incarcerated individuals. This session provides corrections officers, jail administrators, and health care staff with actionable tools to mitigate suicide risks while addressing their legal and ethical responsibilities. Participants will explore the prevalence of suicide in jails, key risk factors, and practical approaches for screening, recognizing warning signs, and implementing proactive interventions. The session will also address the legal ramifications of inadequate prevention efforts, including the constitutional duty of care under the Eighth Amendment. Additionally, it will offer strategies for fostering collaboration with mental health professionals and promoting staff well-being in high-stress environments. By the end of this session, attendees will be equipped to implement evidence-based practices that enhance safety and ensure compliance within their facilities.

Educational Objectives

• Identify key risk factors and warning signs of suicide among incarcerated individuals and how to implement proactive interventions during high-risk periods.
• Describe legal responsibilities related to suicide prevention in correctional settings, including constitutional obligations and consequences of noncompliance.
• Demonstrate skills for conducting suicide risk assessments, ensuring safer environments, and collaborating with mental health professionals. 

Educational Objectives

• Describe legal issues common in jails
• Discuss the relationship between legal responsibilities and correctional care
• Identify strategies and tips to limit legal liability

This session explains self-harm behaviors and the relationship between such behaviors and suicide and how self-harm can support suicide prevention and intervention.

Educational Objectives

• Define self-harm behaviors
• Describe the methods and motivations for self-harm behaviors
• Explain what prevention and intervention procedures should be adopted

Collaboration is essential in correctional health care, where health care providers and custody staff must work together to deliver effective care in a unique environment. However, the tendency to operate in silos may hinder collaboration, leading to adverse events and outcomes. This presentation will explore the challenges of interdisciplinary collaboration, identify practical solutions, and highlight best practices for fostering a cooperative environment that prioritizes patient care while maintaining staff safety and facility security.

Educational Objectives

• Identify common challenges hindering collaboration between custody and health services
• Describe opportunities to improve collaboration between custody and health services
• Discuss system vulnerabilities associated with adverse events

This session will discuss the factors leading to the high rates of mental illness in incarcerated individuals. You will learn the common diagnoses for these individuals, signs to watch for, and best practices in communication. In addition, we will briefly discuss the warning signs of in-custody suicide.

Educational Objectives

• Describe the manifestations of mental illness in jails and prisons
• Identify the signs of mental illness and suicide risk
• Discuss the best practices for effective communication with individuals in custody with mental illness

For the first time, Medicaid is authorized to cover certain health services for individuals during the critical pre-release period from jails and prisons. This session will explore the transformative policy changes enabling this coverage, including nationwide statutory updates enacted by Congress and state-specific innovations achieved through federal Medicaid waivers approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of how these developments are shaping access to care, supporting reentry, and addressing health disparities among justice-involved populations.

Educational Objectives

• Review recent federal and state policy changes allowing Medicaid to be used to cover some services in jails and prisons    
• Describe how changes in Medicaid regulations will impact jail and prison operations    
• Discuss how states are innovating to use Medicaid waivers

The jail-based restoration of competency treatment model (JBCT) has become an established alternative to inpatient hospitalization in multiple states. JBCT provides a humane treatment alternative to the common problem of IST defendants languishing in jails while awaiting state forensic hospital beds. JBCT is also an asset to jails by providing prompt on-site psychiatric services to seriously mentally ill inmates, who may otherwise present management challenges and risk.

Educational Objectives

• State the objectives of a jail-based competency treatment model for augmenting state forensic hospitalization
• Describe the factors that may impact the rate of restoration and length of treatment to restore
• Discuss the essential elements for implementing a jail-based competency treatment model.

Working in jails is stressful. It affects our thoughts, feelings, health, and relationships. To counter stress, we are encouraged to engage in self-care—such as eating better, working out, and getting more sleep, but often we can't find the time or end up feeling more stressed. In this hour, we will move beyond self-care and explore how to reconnect with ourselves and our values to bolster resilience and restore a sense of well-being.

Educational Objectives

• Describe the stress of working in jails and its impact on our sense of well-being
• Discuss the concept of resilience
• Examine practical strategies to help bolster resilience

Due to significant changes in the application of HIPAA for incarcerated patients, there is ongoing confusion regarding how the law applies and what correction-specific exemptions currently exist. This presentation reviews the changes in HIPAA since its inception and examines the current applicability to corrections. In addition, participants will receive guidance on best practices for responding to requests for protected health information of incarcerated patients.

Educational Objectives

• Review changes in HIPAA legislation as it relates to corrections
• Discuss the need to obtain a HIPAA-compliant signed authorization before releasing patient information
• Explain how to handle requests for protected health information

Small and rural jails face distinct challenges in delivering effective mental health care. This session will explore these challenges through an in-depth case study, showcasing how they prompted a statewide adoption of best practices and actionable solutions to enhance mental health outcomes. Key topics include a review of the arrest, incarceration, and tragic death of Sandra Bland in 2015, the subsequent legislative reforms, and their implications for small and rural jails. Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of these issues and practical strategies for implementing improvements in their facilities.

Educational Objectives

• Discuss the barriers to mental health care for small and rural jails
• Examine how the Sandra Bland case impacted requirements and expectations for mental health care in jails
• Discuss mental health care best practices and actionable solutions for small and rural jails

Douglas County Nebraska operates a Pretrial Release Program as an alternative to incarceration. The program offers supervision and reporting to the courts for defendants ordered to the Pretrial Release program, Electronic Monitoring, and the 24/7 Sobriety Program. This presentation explores some of the challenges that the county tackled with the implementation of this program, from choosing staff to selecting the assessment instruments, and more. Learn from their experiences and improve implementation in your jurisdiction.

Educational Objectives:

• Examine key challenges in pretrial release program implementation
• Identify proactive strategies and best practices to mitigate potential risks and enhance program success before launch
• Discuss effective methods for overcoming challenges and optimizing performance once a pretrial release program is operational

In this session, we will study the different perceptions and definitions of restrictive housing and its alternatives. How can such a small percentage of the incarcerated population take up so much time, effort, and energy of staff and providers? What are the benefits of education and seeing things through a different lens? Finally, what is the impact on those with mental illness who are housed in restrictive housing?

Educational Objectives

• Describe the range of restrictive housing practices in correctional settings
• Examine state and agency standards across America regarding restrictive housing
• Discuss protocols for limiting the use of restrictive housing

Correctional health care involves numerous legal challenges for security and health care staff. This presentation highlights several risks, including the litigious nature of the patient population and state and federal guarantees to adequate care; complications accessing outside-the-walls care for correctional patients; Medication Assisted Treatment initiatives and laws; and court orders driving certain areas of specialty care including gender dysphoria, Hepatitis C, and long-term care accommodations.

Educational Objectives

• Explain state and federal laws governing correctional health care and how to reduce the risk of claims
• Examine the current trends impacting access to specialty care
• Discuss the role the courts have played in shaping treatment trends in MAT, Hepatitis C, elderly care, and gender dysphoria

It is estimated that roughly 63% of individuals incarcerated in correctional facilities and 58% in prisons have a substance use disorder. This presentation focuses on equipping correctional health care staff with the knowledge and skills to identify Substance Use Disorder among incarcerated individuals. It will cover the signs and symptoms of SUD, effective screening techniques, and the importance of early identification for improved treatment outcomes. The session will also address the challenges unique to the correctional environment and provide strategies to identify and combat SUD in a safe, evidenced-based manner.

Educational Objectives

• Recognize the signs and symptoms of Substance Use Disorder among incarcerated individuals
• Discuss the importance of early identification for SUD
• Explore the unique challenges of identifying and managing SUD in the correctional environment