On any given day, tens of thousands of inmates with serious medical or mental health conditions are housed in Federal, State, and local correctional facilities around the Nation. Prevalence rates for certain mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder; chronic diseases such as asthma; and infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, hepatitis C, and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) are estimated to be significantly higher among prison and jail inmates than among the population at large. In addition, for a major portion of these inmates, regular use of drugs or alcohol has contributed to or exacerbated their health or mental health conditions. Both before and after incarceration, many experience precarious lifestyles marked by periods of homelessness, joblessness, incarceration, hospitalization, family instability, and limited or sporadic health and
mental health care.