TY - JOUR
T1 - Harmonizing databases? Developing a quasi-experimental design to evaluate a public mental health re-entry program
AU - Hartwell, Stephanie W.
AU - Deng, Xiaogang
AU - Fisher, William
AU - Fulwiler, Carl
AU - Sambamoorthi, Usha
AU - Johnson, Craig
AU - Pinals, Debra A.
AU - Sampson, Lisa
AU - Siegfriedt, Julianne
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was funded by NIMH 1RC1MH088716-01 . The investigators would like to thank Dr. Martha Lyman, Michael Lupo and Julie White LICSW for their contributions and commitment to this project. Also our heartfelt gratitude to our long standing and excellent research assistants from UMass Boston – Julianne Siegfriedt, Paul Anskat, Phoebe Lehman, Brianna Roach, Jenn Walker, Taylor Hall, and James Wall, and UMass Medical School, Kristen Roy-Bujunowski. Thanks to Kristen again and Paul Benedict for their technical assistance from DMH; Natalya Pushkina, William Saltzman and Ken Nelson for their support from DOC; Andrew Hanchett, Hermik Babakhanlou-Chase, Adam Pojani, and Michael Botticcelli for their support from DPH BSAS; and Dr. Jie Chen from UMass Boston for her continued statistical expertise.
PY - 2012/11
Y1 - 2012/11
N2 - Our study is the first-ever initiative to merge administrative databases in Massachusetts to evaluate an important public mental health program. It examines post-incarceration outcomes of adults with serious mental illness (SMI) enrolled in the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) Forensic Transition Team (FTT) program. The program began in 1998 with the goal of transitioning offenders with SMI released from state and local correctional facilities utilizing a core set of transition activities. In this study we evaluate the program's effectiveness using merged administrative data from various state agencies for the years 2007-2011, comparing FTT clients to released prisoners who, despite having serious mental health disorders, did not meet the criterion for DMH services. By systematically describing our original study design and the barriers we encountered, this report will inform future efforts to evaluate public programs using merged administrative databases and electronic health records.
AB - Our study is the first-ever initiative to merge administrative databases in Massachusetts to evaluate an important public mental health program. It examines post-incarceration outcomes of adults with serious mental illness (SMI) enrolled in the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) Forensic Transition Team (FTT) program. The program began in 1998 with the goal of transitioning offenders with SMI released from state and local correctional facilities utilizing a core set of transition activities. In this study we evaluate the program's effectiveness using merged administrative data from various state agencies for the years 2007-2011, comparing FTT clients to released prisoners who, despite having serious mental health disorders, did not meet the criterion for DMH services. By systematically describing our original study design and the barriers we encountered, this report will inform future efforts to evaluate public programs using merged administrative databases and electronic health records.
KW - Administrative data
KW - Re-entry program effectiveness
KW - Released prisoners
KW - Serious mental illness
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84863405041&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2012.02.001
DO - 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2012.02.001
M3 - Article
C2 - 22436598
AN - SCOPUS:84863405041
SN - 0149-7189
VL - 35
SP - 461
EP - 472
JO - Evaluation and Program Planning
JF - Evaluation and Program Planning
IS - 4
ER -