Book Description

This study attempted to determine if the incorporation of an intern training program with an on-site forensic mental health treatment program would effectively meet the needs of an incarcerated population at a low cost. The Behavioral Health Program at the Fresno County Juvenile Justice Program at the Fresno County Juvenile Justice Campus, a program that provides psychological services through doctoral-level interns, was analyzed on the basis of cost, success in meeting its contractual objectives, and program capacity as determined by the number of juveniles served. Additionally, a 15-month pilot version of the program was compared to the current program in order to determine if a number of systematic policy modifications were effective in increasing performance of the current program. Results showed that while the intern training program did not meet all of its contractual objectives, the program's performance was significantly increased by the implementation of empirically-founded policies. If the existing process of policy development and monitoring is maintained and the program achieves all contractual objectives, the Fresno County Behavioral Health Program may provide an extremely cost-effective solution for forensic mental health provision.