2025 ACCp Annual Conference
Friday, September 19th
Defining and diagnosing serious mental illness (SMI): Implications for the disciplinary process
Objectives:
- Participants will understand the rate of SMI across jails and prisons in the United States.
- Participants will gain knowledge about appropriate treatment aimed at improving outcomes upon release to the community.
- Participants will understand the importance of defining SMI appropriately in order to ensure proper clinical care and to implement policies to protect this vulnerable population.
Joel T. Andrade, PhD, LICSW, CCHP-MH
Dr. Joel Andrade holds a PhD and MSW from the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work with a concentration in forensics. He has worked in correctional and forensic mental health since 1997. He has presented and published journal articles and book chapters on numerous correctional health care topics including psychopathy, violence risk assessment, self-injurious behavior, suicide prevention and intervention, designing alternatives to segregation units for correctional systems, and gender dysphoria. Dr. Andrade is also the editor of The Handbook of Violence Risk Assessment: New Approaches for Mental Health Professionals.