Violent offenders as a target population for Public Mental Health Care

•A study was conducted to affirm to what extent violent offenders may be eligible for public health care assistance.•Clinical interviews were conducted with 558 offenders, of whom 81% had complete data.•There was a general accumulation of addiction, mental health and social problems.•Up to one-third of offenders appeared eligible for public (mental) health care.

The study sought to specify which part of a population of young adult violent offenders in Amsterdam (mean age 24.9 years, sd = 8.2) were eligible for Public Mental Health Care (PMHC). The results of a semi-structured clinical interview were used (N = 454), which included the Self-Sufficiency Matrix (SSM-D). Using the SSM-D and two distinct definitions of what constitutes a need for PMHC, the size of the PMHC target population was determined twice. Depending on which definition was used, 35.9% (mathematical algorithm which put weights to single SSM-D domains) and 34.8% (problematic levels of self-sufficiency on a selection of domains) appeared to be eligible for entering the PMHC system. The study confirms that a substantial proportion of vulnerable people are among the forensic population.