Enhanced Pre-Arraignment Screening in New York: What the Forensic Record Can and Cannot Carry

Stephan M. Carlson, MD, MBA, FAPA · Correctional Mental Health

A screening note taken hours after arrest is built to keep a detainee safe overnight, not to answer a forensic question months later. Counsel who treat the two as interchangeable inherit a record that says less than it appears to. What pre-arraignment screening is built to do After a person is arrested, correctional health staff conduct a pre-arraignment health screen that captures acute medical needs, suicide risk, withdrawal risk, and active psychiatric symptoms. NYC Health + Hospitals Correctional Health Services performs this work through its Enhanced Pre-Arraignment Screening Services (EPASS), a screen conducted in Central Booking in the courthouses before the person enters jail custody

Most relevant service: Criminal Forensic Evaluations