AAFP: The Psychologist in Correctional Settings

4 Hours | 4 CEs

This on-demand professional training program on AAFP: The Psychologist in Correctional Settings is presented by Robin Timme, PsyD, ABPP, in partnership with the American Academy of Forensic Psychology (AAFP).

The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate among independent democracies, with mass incarceration disproportionately affecting BIPOC communities and creating significant public health concerns. Incarcerated individuals experience drastically higher rates of HIV, Hepatitis C, substance use disorders, and serious mental illness. The phenomenon of transinstitutionalization has shifted people with serious mental illness from hospitals to jails, complicating mental health care in correctional settings.

Psychologists play critical roles in providing screening, assessment, crisis intervention, and treatment within these complex environments. Courts have affirmed the constitutional right to adequate care, driving improvements in correctional mental health services. More recently, attention has turned to upstream diversion efforts, reentry support, and the broader criminal legal system, as described in the Sequential Intercept Model.

Psychologists are also increasingly involved in addressing the mental health crisis among correctional officers, who face high rates of PTSD, distress, and suicide. Broader reform efforts, spurred by the COVID pandemic and opioid crisis, have expanded access to treatments like MAT and MOUD and prompted Medicaid policy changes to support reentry care.

Overall, correctional psychology offers vital, clinically rich opportunities to serve marginalized populations and shape systems at the intersection of public health and public safety.