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Mental Health and the Justice System in Durham County (2023-2024)

Using data from the Durham County Detention Facility (DCDF) and Duke Health, this multiyear project has been working to inform stakeholders in the criminal justice system of the extent, usage patterns, medical needs and insurance status of individuals with needs that lie at the intersection of mental health with criminal justice. 

Over the past four years, this project has collaborated with DCDF to develop a rich dataset involving all bookings into the DCDF, and all Duke Health encounters of individuals diagnosed with mental illness from 2014 to 2021.

In striving to understand associations between healthcare utilization and interactions with the justice system in Durham County, this team divided their work this year into four areas: 

  • Engaging with focus groups with justice-involved community members
  • Analyzing the effects of the 2019 cash bail reform policy on those with diagnosed severe mental illness and substance use disorders
  • Examining costs to Duke Health incurred by this population
  • Conducting a meta-analysis of the use of medication assisted treatment for opioid use disorder in carceral settings

Learn more about this team’s work by reading their team profile.

Timing 

Summer 2023 – Spring 2024

Team Outputs 

Mental Health and the Justice System in Durham County (Poster presented at Fortin Foundation Bass Connections Showcase, April 17, 2024)

Substance Use and Mental Illness Make Individuals Vulnerable (Team profile; 2024 Fortin Foundation Bass Connections Virtual Showcase)

This Team in the News

Deep Commitments to Students and Community Drive Winners of Leadership Award

Meet the Members of the 2023-2024 Student Advisory Council

Finding Solutions Together

See related Data+ summer project, Mental Health and the Justice System in Durham County (2023), and related teams, Mental Health and the Justice System (2024-2025)and Mental Health and the Justice System in Durham County (2022-2023).

 

Image: Team members work together in a classroom. (Photo: Chris Hildreth)

Team Leaders

  • Nicole Schramm-Sapyta, Duke Institute for Brain Sciences
  • Maria Tackett, Arts & Sciences: Statistical Science

Graduate Team Members

  • Madeline Brown, Medical Student; Masters of Public Policy
  • Sanskriti Purohit, Statistical Science - MS

Undergraduate Team Members

  • Irene Biju, Public Policy (AB); Computer Science (BS2)
  • Jordan Hamelsky, Statistical Science (BS)
  • Foxx Hart, GCT in Literature Program (AB)
  • Will Lieber, Program II (AB)
  • Maya Pandey, Public Policy (AB)
  • Zoe Svec, Statistical Science (BS)

Community Organizations

  • Durham County Sheriff\'s Office
  • Durham Crisis Intervention Team
  • Alliance Healthcare
  • Justice Services Department

Team Contributors

  • Michele Easter, School of Medicine: Psychiatry: Social and Community Psychiatry