Critical time intervention for persons released from cook county jail with behavioral health and housing needs

We seek to examine the effects of critical time intervention (CTI) on rearrest and the rate of contact with homelessness services among men with self-reported mental health and social vulnerabilities specifically at-risk of homelessness who receive services immediately upon jail release between 11/06/2017 and 02/10/2020 in Illinois. We use multivariate analysis to compare outcomes among men randomly assigned to Cook County Jail’s Supportive Release Center (SRC) plus CTI services to outcomes among men assigned to receive SRC services alone. Over the 2-year post-release period, CTI-assigned participants experienced an average of 0.2 more contacts with homelessness service providers than participants assigned to SRC alone ( p <.001), and 0.17 more contacts with homelessness services over the 3-year period ( p <.001). We observed no clinically or statistically significant differences across groups in rearrest outcomes at 3 months ( p =.82), 2 years ( p =.82), or 3 years ( p =.82) post-discharge. CTI services facilitated additional linkages to housing services among persons leaving the jail setting, though these interventions appeared to bring no incremental reduction in rearrest outcomes. Focused interventions provided upon jail release may facilitate provision of long-term housing services. Future research should explore more-focused or intensive interventions to reduce rearrest risk in this population.