To give readers a snapshot into the work lives of their colleagues, we asked a few CCHPs to describe a typical day on the job. Marie Carlin, MA, LCSW, CCHP, jotted down a wonderfully detailed diary of activities (slightly edited for length).

A clinical social worker at the Hartford (CT) Community Correctional Center since 1997 and a CCHP since 2002, Carlin juggles a workload that includes mental health intake assessments, case management and crisis intervention for inmates with severe mental illness, discharge planning for mental health clients and liaison with service providers in the community.

Commenting about the care provided in jails generally, she says, “I don’t think most people realize the extent and quality of the mental health services we try to provide to inmates. Our staff is very professional and often able to offer excellent mental health care with very limited resources.”

Morning

7:00  Collect charts for the day from medical records office

7:10  Read and answer e-mail: a social worker in the public defender’s office alerting jail staff of a seriously mentally ill inmate coming in who might be a danger to himself and others; my supervisor informing me that I was accepted to attend a cross-training reentry meeting; jail reentry staff notifying me that my client is being referred for a program and asking if I want to be notified when it is determined (yes, I do; he is being treated for psychiatric illness and will need a discharge summary and meds)

7:30  Review jail diversion referrals of inmates who came in last night to see if they have information about disposition or diversion plans with which I need to collaborate, or if any referrals require that I initiate discharge planning

7:40  Review staff referrals and inmate self-referrals for discharge planning and schedule appointments for them

7:45  Look up locations that need to be seen today

8:15  Discharge planning for two inmates. One is a 66-year-old Viet Nam veteran with serious medical problems, PTSD symptoms and a recent alcohol problem; this is his first time in jail and he wants help getting into a VA recovery program. We contacted the VA homeless coordinator and VA shelter program, requested discharge medications and gave him discharge instructions. If he returns from court, we will proceed with the application for the VA residential recovery program.

11:00  Fax medical insurance applications to the department of social services; complete and fax discharge summaries to community treaters

11:30  Discharge planning with two more inmates

Afternoon

12:00  Send secured e-mail to social worker in public defender’s office providing information that may be useful in determining a disposition at court; contact our IT desk for help with a computer glitch

12:30  Review discharge list and check off completed discharges; make list of inmates to see tomorrow; list the inmate ID photos I need for medical insurance applications and fax it to our mental health secretary, who will get them for me

12:45  Discharge planning with three inmates. One is a 22-year-old male with serious cognitive deficits and charged with rape. Contact the court to provide information relevant to disposition; contact a community support group he attended to arrange for assistance with transitioning to the community

1:15  Read and answer e-mail from jail diversion staff, organize notes from discharge planners’ recent meeting, propose to the nursing supervisor a system to keep track of discharge medications, providing part of the administrative policies and copies of forms for recording information

1:35  Review charts of potential discharge clients to assess accuracy of mental health scoring and determine which need to be scheduled and which need to have mental health scores lowered

2:00  End of my day at HCCC