(Dec. 27, 2017) It has been almost three years since the Treatment Advocacy Center established the Office of Research & Public Affairs (ORPA) as an educational program tasked with answering questions that are often under-collected and overlooked by government agencies and other organizations. Since its inception in 2015, ORPA has produced original research on the role and impact of serious mental illness on a variety of public policies and systems. In addition, ORPA has reduced the information void around serious mental illness awareness and education by making this research assessable to family members, policymakers, academics, clinicians and the general public.
ORPA expanded its program in 2017 with the release of three original studies and the co-release of a fourth:
- Emptying the ‘New Asylums’: A Beds Capacity Model to Reduce Mental Illness Behind Bars – Analyzed findings from a mathematical model built to project how small changes to the pretrial forensic bed system can have a major impact on waiting times and can reduce the mass incarceration of individuals with serious mental illness.
- A Crisis in Search of Data: The Revolving Door of Serious Mental Illness in Super Utilization – Reported findings from a systematic literature review to identify the role of serious mental illness in super utilization, the relatively frequent use of public services, and the high human and economic costs associated.
- Treat or Repeat: A State Survey of Serious Mental Illness, Major Crimes and Community Treatment – Surveyed all 50 states on selected systems and structures available to individuals who have committed major crimes and have been released from jail or prison, or discharged from a psychiatric hospital. The states were graded from A to F based on the availability and comprehensiveness of these practices.
- Beyond Beds: The Vital Role of a Full Continuum of Psychiatric Care, a joint report with the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors – Addressed the need for a full continuum of psychiatric care to reduce the suffering of individuals with serious mental illness through building a robust, interconnected and evidence-based system of care that goes beyond psychiatric beds.
Also from ORPA in 2017:
- Research Weekly – Weekly summaries of scientific and public policy research about serious mental illness created for general readers.
- Emptying the ‘New Asylums’ at AEI – The Treatment Advocacy Center partnered with the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) to bring together criminal justice and mental health experts to discuss the dramatic shortage of forensic hospital beds and how wait times for pretrial defendants can be reduced.
- Forensic Bed Capacity Calculator at APA meeting – Executive Director John Snook and ORPA participated in the American Psychiatric Association Innovation Lab in May 2017. We presented the forensic beds estimation calculator, our innovative solution to help reduce mental illness behind bars.
With the departure of Doris Fuller, this year has also been one of transitions. Although Doris will continue to make contributions to ORPA, and will continue to speak and advocate for mental illness issues, we will miss her passion, dedication and jovial spirit that has made her an irreplaceable member of the Treatment Advocacy Center.
THANK YOU for your continuous support of ORPA and the Treatment Advocacy Center.
Sending you the warmest wishes to the new year ahead.
Elizabeth Sinclair
Research Associate
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