Arrest Rates of Patients Treated at a Community Mental Health Center

Records of inpatients and outpatients first admitted to a community mental health center (CMHC) in 1975 or 1983 were studied to determine the patients' arrest rates and to note the factors associated with incidence of arrest one to nine years after admission to the CMHC. CMHC patients were at greatest risk for arrest within their first year after admission. During the year after admission, arrest rates for CMHC patients were .76 to 1.96 times those of the general population, but were lower than rates reported in the literature for patients released from state hospitals. Attributes that predicted arrest of CMHC patients were a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder, a history of arrests, and younger age.