Opting for treatment over jail time

New this month, a program in Indiana is taking off to help those that are incarcerated without insurance coverage and struggling with a mental health disorder.

The program is called Recovery Works.

It just launched this month with the goals of reducing criminal relapse and promoting recovery.

Current prison population statistics show that nearly two out of every ten inmates is diagnosed with a serious mental illness.

But the problem extends further than that. Many offenders involved in the criminal justice system don’t have insurance coverage making treatment and recovery a near impossibility.

According to our reporting partners at the Elkhart Truth, eligible felons must be at least 18 years old and have income under 200 percent of the poverty level.