Forensic Systems of Care

In collaboration with the Division of Community Psychiatry, our faculty members provide services, training and consultation to local mental health clinics and law enforcement agencies. We are also directly involved in diversion programs, which redirect individuals with mental illnesses from the criminal justice system into community-based care.

Fellows, residents and medical students participating in forensic psychiatry training have opportunities to learn about the treatment and care of individuals with psychiatric illnesses at:

• Erie County Holding Center
• Erie County Correctional Facility
• our forensic unit at Erie County Medical Center

When an individual returns to the community after being committed to a psychiatric facility for a criminal offense, our faculty can make recommendations on the conditions for release. We consult on how well the individual meets these conditions over time, and we help our trainees understand these conditions.

Our division provides the courts with consultation services and information they can use for sentencing and determining post-incarceration treatment and care. Our faculty members work with inmates and individuals who are awaiting trial or who have been sentenced, and our trainees are exposed to our methods of:

• assessing risk of violence to self and others
• determining competency to stand trial
• offering information to the courts on a broad range of psychiatric factors

Our trainees gain exposure to psychological testing in addition to psychiatric assessment and interventions.

Our faculty and trainees provide psychiatric care for incarcerated youths at the East Ferry Youth Services Center, a secure detention facility.