Brief Jail Mental Health Screen
The Brief Jail Mental Health Screen (BJMHS) (Steadman, 2005) is a short eight-item screening instrument for correctional officials to use to identify severe mental illnesses and acute psychiatric issues upon intake into prison or during the booking process. Its items are based on the original 14-item Referral Decision Scale (RDS), a similar short screening test for mental health issues among inmates, but which suffered from some face validity issues, and problems in discriminating among schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, and major depression. The first section of the screening assessment measures the occurrence of mental health symptoms in the last 6 months, while the second section addresses whether the respondent was ever hospitalized for emotional or mental health problems and whether he or she is currently taking psychiatric medication. The Brief Jail Mental Health Screen takes between 2 and 3 minutes to complete, on average. Choose either yes or no to each question, and enter any refusals at the bottom of the questionnaire in a notes section. Medication refers to "prescribed" medication.
Sources
Steadman, H. J., & Policy Research Associates, Inc. (2005). Brief Jail Mental Health Screen