1 Hour / 1 CE

On Demand | Self-Paced Professional Training

This on-demand professional training program on Considerations for Correctional Mental Health in Rural Areas is presented by Tamara Kang, PhD.

This badge-earning program can be shared digitally on platforms like LinkedIn or your resume and counts toward a certificate. Enroll in this program to earn credit towards the Correctional Mental Health Certificate and share your new digital credentials.

In rural areas, providing interventions to all persons under corrections or community corrections supervision is complicated by the limited infrastructural supports inherent to rurality. When the person also has mental health needs, they face additional barriers, such as limited mental health service options and inadequate community knowledge of what mental health services are available and how they work. Often, rurality contributes to reluctance to disclose mental health problems for fear of stigmatization due to the tight-knit nature of rural communities, which can fuel self-stigma and result in nonadherence to treatment and medication. On the other side of the coin, rural providers tirelessly work to provide quality services while being given minimal resources and juggling large caseloads.  

This program focuses on: (1) providing quality services in corrections while also managing large caseloads, minimal resources, and provider burnout and fatigue, and (2) providing services to persons under corrections or community corrections supervision as they navigate the limited infrastructural supports, such as scarcity of employment opportunities, the proportion of agricultural land limits available housing, no public transportation, widespread inaccessibility to services, and limited access to modern technology.

Given that the field has historically relied on resource-dependent interventions, which require infrastructural supports that rural areas do not have, the program concludes with case examples that fosters discussion about how to offer quality services when the reality is understaffing and minimal resources, which then often translates into provider burnout, frustration, fear (e.g., not enough staff to handle violence), and belief that recovery is impossible. 

This program is designed for mental health providers and allied professionals working in corrections or community corrections settings, including correctional facilities, inpatient mental health facilities, or as community providers serving justice-involved individuals on probation or parole. Ideal participants include those specializing in forensic or correctional mental health, substance abuse counseling, or healthcare roles like physicians or physician assistants who frequently address the mental health needs of justice-involved populations, including cases involving mental illness and violence.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this training, participants will be able to:

  • 1 Describe the rural-specific, infrastructural barriers to delivery of quality services and treatment adherence for persons in corrections and community corrections
  • 2 Describe practical strategies to overcome the limited infrastructural supports inherent to rural areas without compromising the delivery of quality services for persons with mental health needs under corrections or community corrections supervision

  • Intended Audience

    This training is designed for mental health providers and allied professionals at any stage of their career who work with justice-involved individuals, particularly in rural or correctional contexts. The program is ideal for those specializing in correctional or forensic mental health, substance use treatment, or healthcare services for individuals in correctional facilities, inpatient mental health units, or community settings such as probation or parole. Participants may include professionals addressing complex cases involving mental illness, substance use, and violence among incarcerated or supervised populations.

  • Experience Level

    This training is applicable for all career stages: entry-level, mid-career, and experienced professionals.

  • Practice Setting

    • Mental health providers (e.g., psychologists, social workers, counselors)

    • Substance use treatment professionals

    • Physicians, physician assistants, and other healthcare providers

    • Professionals working in:
        • -Correctional facilities (jails, prisons)
        -Inpatient mental health units
        -Community corrections (probation, parole)
        -Rural settings serving justice-involved individuals

Presented By

Tamara Kang, PhD, PhD

Tamara Kang received her M.A. in Clinical Psychology, Ph.D. in Legal Psychology, and Quantitative Certificate from The University of Texas at El Paso. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the School of Psychological & Behavioral Sciences at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She was awarded an APA Division 41 Early Career Professional Grant to qualitatively examine re-entry barriers in rural areas with limited infrastructural supports and was a recipient of the APA Div. 18 Criminal Justice Section Early Career Achievement Award. She serves as the APA Div. 41 Corrections Committee co-chair and is a member of the APA Div. 41 Science Impact and Communication committee. Her research focuses on re-entry barriers, implementation in correctional settings, rehabilitation and assessment for subgroups of justice-involved persons, and translation of research into practice.

View More Programs from this Presenter
Tamara Kang, PhD

Training Outline

Key topics covered in this training include:

  • What works’ in corrections and community corrections with persons with mental health needs

  • Why ‘what works’ requires infrastructural supports and does not consider how to sustainably implement resource dependent solutions when infrastructural limitations are inherent to rural communities
    - Challenges for the rural provider in corrections vs. community corrections
    - Challenges and barriers for the justice-involved person with mental health needs

  • How do we rethink ‘what works,’ given the limited infrastructural supports?
    -Innovative solutions in rural communities
    -Discussion of case studies and provider experiences with treatment delivery in rural communities
    -Presentation of solutions that other rural counties have successfully adopted to facilitate adherence to treatment and medication while also supporting and acknowledging the lived reality for rural providers

  • Assessment of provider burnout
    -Discussion of strategies to manage and support provider mental health (e.g., rural providers often experience fear, frustration, and belief that recovery is impossible given the infrastructural limitations are the reality)"

Earning a Certificate

This is a badge-earning program, which means it will help you earn a certificate that can be showcased on digital platforms like LinkedIn.
View Certificates

CE Sponsorship Information

Palo Alto University, Continuing & Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by, recognized by, or maintains sponsorship provider status with the following boards and agencies. We maintain responsibility for all content in our CE/CPD programs. For more information, visit here. 

  1. American Psychological Association (APA): Approved sponsor of continuing education for psychologists.

  2. Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB): Approved continuing education provider (ACE program, Provider #1480), 11/22/2023–11/22/2026.

  3. Canadian Psychological Association (CPA): Approved to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.

  4. National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC): Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP No. 7190).



Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT), is approved by the Canadian Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT), SW CPE is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0356 and the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0073. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6811. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. CONCEPT Professional Training, #1480, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. CONCEPT Professional Training maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 11/22/23-11/22/26. Social workers completing this course receive (clinical or social work ethics) continuing education credits.