Incarceration associated with homelessness, mental disorder, and co-occurring substance abuse.

Objective: This study assessed relationships between homelessness, mental disorder, and incarceration.

Methods: Using archival databases that included all 12,934 individuals who entered the San Francisco County Jail system during the first six months of 2000, the authors assessed clinical and behavioral characteristics associated with homelessness and incarceration.

Results: In 16 percent of the episodes of incarceration, the inmates were homeless, and in 18 percent of the episodes, the inmates had a diagnosis of a mental disorder; 30 percent of the inmates who were homeless had a diagnosis of a mental disorder during one or more episodes.