May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and this year’s theme, “More Good Days, Together,” has stayed with me throughout my travels in 2026. NCCHC has attended more regional conferences this year to discuss our services and resources, and these conversations with professionals across the country continue to reinforce both the challenges in our field and the importance of working together to address them.
One theme I hear repeatedly from custody professionals is that mental health training often does not prepare staff for what they encounter in the field. Jails and youth facilities face particular challenges because people arrive directly from the community and often remain in custody for only short periods of time. That leaves little time to identify needs, establish treatment plans, and coordinate continuity of care at release.
Many people enter custody with untreated mental health conditions. Screening and continuity of care efforts have improved, but gaps remain when someone has never received treatment or does not disclose symptoms during intake. Those situations create risk for both staff and people in custody.
A significant portion of people in custody experience mental health needs. In fast-moving environments, it is easy to rely too heavily on routine processes. That is why we must continue returning to the basics of screening, training, communication, and collaboration.
Custody and Health Services Screening Processes
Intake sets the tone for everything that follows. The earlier staff identify concerns, the more opportunity there is to make informed decisions about housing, treatment, and reentry planning. Many adverse outcomes trace back to incomplete screening or missed information. Intake must remain an interdisciplinary process, with custody, medical, and mental health staff working together rather than separately.
- Are we asking the right questions and following up when signs or symptoms of mental illness appear?
- Are we relying too heavily on internal records, or are we coordinating with local mental health agencies and collaborating across classification, custody, and health services teams to identify people who need care?
- Does reentry planning begin at intake for people with known treatment needs? Release timelines in jail settings can change quickly, so continuity of care planning must start immediately.
Custody and Health Care Staff Training
Training shapes culture, policy, and practice. Leaders must create environments where staff receive the tools they need to work safely and effectively. Mental health training matters because custody staff often notice changes in behavior before clinical staff do. Staff need the confidence to recognize concerns and request assistance early.
- What training do intake and line staff receive to recognize signs of mental illness and suicide risk?
- How often is training delivered? Is it part of both academy instruction and ongoing in-service education?
- Who develops and delivers the training? Do custody, medical, and mental health teams collaborate on content?
- When in-person training is not possible, are webinars, recorded modules, or learning management systems available?
- Does training address documentation, including referrals, supervisory communication, and actions taken?
Monitoring and Treatment
Communication across disciplines remains essential while someone is in custody. Facilities house people with long-term mental health needs who require ongoing support and coordination. Treatment plans should align with housing decisions, supervision practices, and safety precautions.
At the same time, many suicides and suicide attempts occur in general population settings, not only among people identified as high risk. The correctional environment itself can increase vulnerability, even among people without a documented mental health history.
Continuity of care after release must remain part of treatment planning from the beginning. People may return to the community with little notice, making coordination with community providers essential. Resources differ from community to community, but continuity of care improves outcomes for the individual while also supporting public health and community safety.
- Does your facility promote a culture of suicide prevention through training, policy, and daily practice?
- Are there clear ways for family members, peers, or others to report concerns when someone may be at risk of self-harm?
- Some agencies provide reporting information on websites, phone systems, or visitation materials.
- Others allow direct access to crisis or suicide prevention resources connected to facility response systems.
- Do staff conduct welfare checks at appropriate and unpredictable intervals, and do those checks meaningfully assess well-being rather than becoming routine tasks?
- Do agencies use self-audits and quality assurance measures to identify gaps before critical incidents occur?
Mental health needs will continue to challenge correctional systems, and we must continue strengthening our approaches to screening, training, treatment, and reentry planning. These efforts affect the safety and well-being of staff, people in custody, and the broader community.
This work is difficult, but collaborative approaches to care save lives, improve outcomes, and strengthen communities.
Richard Forbus, MBA-HCM, CCHP-A, is NCCHC’s vice president of program development.