Research summaryIn 2012, Chicago closed half of its public mental health clinics, which provide services to those in need regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay. Critics of the closures argued that they would result in service shortages and divert untreated patients to the criminal justice system. We explore this claim by examining whether and to what extent the closures increased criminal justice contact. Using a difference‐in‐differences framework, we compare arrests and mental health transports in block groups located within a half mile of clinics that closed to those equidistant from clinics that remained open. While we find evidence that police‐initiated mental health transports increased following the closures, we do not observe similar changes in arrests.Policy implicationsChicago's mental health clinic closures remain a contentious issue to this day. Our results suggest that the shuttered clinics were meeting a need that, when left unmet, created conditions for mental health emergencies. While the closures do not appear to have routed untreated patients to the county jail, they increased police contact and, subsequently, transportation to less specialized emergency care facilities. Our findings demonstrate the need to strengthen health care access, crisis prevention, and the mental health safety net to preclude police from acting as mental health responders of last resort.

中文翻译：

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芝加哥公共精神卫生机构关闭和刑事司法联系


研究摘要 2012年，芝加哥关闭了一半的公共心理健康诊所，这些诊所为有需要的人提供服务，无论他们的保险状况或支付能力如何。对关闭的批评者认为，这将导致服务短缺，并将未经治疗的患者转移到刑事司法系统。我们通过研究关闭是否以及在多大程度上增加了刑事司法接触来探讨这一说法。使用双重差分框架，我们比较了位于关闭诊所半英里范围内的街区组和距离仍然开放的诊所等距的街区组中的逮捕和心理健康运输情况。虽然我们发现证据表明，关闭后警方发起的心理健康转运有所增加，但我们没有观察到逮捕人数的类似变化。政策影响 芝加哥的心理健康诊所关闭至今仍然是一个有争议的问题。我们的结果表明，关闭的诊所满足了需求，如果得不到满足，就会为精神卫生紧急情况创造条件。虽然关闭似乎并未将未经治疗的患者送往县监狱，但它们增加了警方的联系，并随后将其运送到不太专业的紧急护理设施。我们的研究结果表明，需要加强医疗保健服务、危机预防和心理健康安全网，以防止警察充当最后的心理健康应对者。