Programs and Services

Medical Program

• The active medical caseload represents about 21 percent of the inmate population; about 4,200 individuals.
• The medical program accounts for about 70 percent of the total cost of inmate services ($70 million) provided to the incarcerated population.
• Statewide, each of the over 36,000 annual admissions requires a medical and mental health intake screening.
• On an average day, Correctional Managed Health Care providers see about 560 inmates at sick call. There are 220 inmates in infirmary beds and approximately eight inmates are receiving inpatient services at John Dempsey Hospital.
• In 2007, there were almost 13,000 visits for care at specialty clinics in DOC facilities (orthopedic services, infectious diseases/HIV, optometry and podiatry).
• HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, Hepatitis B and C, drug and alcohol addiction, STDs, and hypertension are among the serious illnesses overrepresented in this population.
• Correctional Managed Health Care also provides on-site dialysis to inmates.
• CMHC has a robust utilization review process to assess the need for additional services. The medical services director leads this weekly review with participation by other facility-based prescribers.
• A Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee meets monthly to develop and review formulary guidelines, medication variances, and adverse drug reactions and to monitor policies and procedures for drug control. Over nine million doses of medication were dispensed, delivered and administered over the last year.

Mental Health Services

• CMHC employs about 200 mental health professionals, including psychiatrists, mental health advanced nurse practitioners, psychologists and social workers to serve the needs of approximately 20 percent of the inmate population, about 4,000 individuals
• Mental health services are comprehensive from admission to discharge, and focus on access to care and outreach, screening and assessment, identification, treatment planning, classification, provision of distinct levels of service and continuity of care upon discharge to the community.
• A complete suicide assessment is done for every first-time admission, as well as for others referred as a result of the initial intake screening.
• Inpatient mental health services are provided at nine of the 18 facilities; outpatient services are provided at 15 of the 18 facilities.
• Six facilities have specialized sex offender services.
• Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, depression, severe personality disorders, traumatic brain injury and addictive disorders are overrepresented in this population.

Dental Services

• Dental services include routine exams, X-rays, dentures, restorations, root canals and oral surgery.
• In the 2007 fiscal year, 20 dentists, two oral surgeons and 20 dental assistants conducted over 19,000 assessments and over 22,000 procedures.

Adolescent Services

• CMHC works closely with clinical and custody staff at York Correctional Institution and Manson Youth Institution to continuously review and improve health care services provided to adolescents incarcerated in the State of Connecticut.
• CMHC and DOC continue to foster increased partnerships with state and community agencies, most notably the Office of the Child Advocate, Department of Children and Families, and the Court Support Services Division to meet the continuously evolving needs of this population with the goal of increased continuity of care system-wide.
• Current initiatives include policy and procedure development focused on this special population, on-site quality improvement audits and monitoring, juvenile interviews, and staff training in adolescent growth and development.

Judicial Contract – Court Support Services Division (CSSD)

• Since May of 2000, CSSD has contracted CMHC to provide health care quality improvement consultation services to the statewide juvenile detention system. CMHC currently provides this service to a broad continuum of facilities, including three state-operated detention sites and six additional sites managed by contracted community providers.
• CMHC, in collaboration with CSSD, spearheaded the successful accreditation by the National Commission on Correctional Health care (NCCHC) of the three state juvenile detention centers located in Bridgeport, Hartford and New Haven.