Prison Agency Gets $1 Million To Identify Brain Injuries

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana Department of Correction has been awarded nearly $1 million to identify offenders with traumatic brain injuries and help them avoid a return to prison.

The four-year federal grant came from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/Health Resources and Services Administration.

The grant will be used to help prison staff learn to identify inmates with brain injuries and guide them into assistance. A study by Indiana University researchers suggests that nearly 36 percent of offenders in Indiana suffer some form of brain injury during their lifetime. Injured offenders are more likely to have psychiatric disorders.

Inmates transferred to supervision in Marion and Allen counties will be offered guidance in managing their brain injury. Data will be reviewed to determine if those inmates are more successful.