The Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act (Fact Sheet)

The number of people with mental disorders who come in contact with our criminal justice system is high. A 2006 Department of Justice study showed that approximately 45 percent of federal inmates, 56 percent of state inmates, and 64 percent of jail inmates displayed symptoms or had a history of a mental disorder; among female inmates in state prisons, the rate was nearly three out of four. In comparison, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, roughly one out of four adults in the general U.S. population is diagnosed with a mental health disorder in a given year.