New Learning Community to Explore Person-Centered Justice in the Courts

********This application deadline has passed********

The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center and the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) are offering a virtual Community of Practice for interdisciplinary teams seeking to implement effective criminal case management for people with behavioral health needs. The Community of Practice will include both one-on-one consultation and opportunities for peer learning and sharing. This series is supported by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance.

Participating teams will learn how to use relevant data while applying new strategies to improve outcomes throughout the criminal justice system for people with behavioral health needs. (See Improving Case Processing and Outcomes for People with Behavioral Health Needs for further details). Sessions will focus on strengthening community responses for people with behavioral health needs and minimizing justice system involvement; promoting early intervention and triage of these cases if charges are filed; institutionalizing alternative pathways to treatment and recovery; and improving outcomes.

The virtual Community of Practice will include teams from up to five jurisdictions throughout the country. To be eligible for participation, each team must include a judge, court administrator, and county behavioral health leader. In total, teams should include five to seven people whose input is needed to implement data-driven policy change in how courts and communities respond to cases involving people with behavioral health needs.

Priority for participation will be given to sites that are able to identify court cases involving people with behavioral health needs, committed to analyzing their data and working toward measurable improvement, and implementing new approaches and strategies to address this issue. We also invite applications from teams that do not yet have this data capacity but are committed to working toward identifying court cases involving people with behavioral health needs.

Apply by June 4, 2021, for the opportunity to participate in this community of practice. Please have only one person per team complete the application. All team participants must commit to attending all scheduled sessions.

CSG Justice Center and NCSC staff will be conducting one-on-one outreach to participating teams prior to the first session to better understand each team’s plans and goals for the Community of Practice.

Dates:

Session 1: Concepts and Strategies of Person-Centered Case Management across the Criminal Justice System
Thursday, June 24, 2021, 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. PT

Session 2: Necessary Case Processing Data and Performance Measures
Thursday, July 8, 2021, 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. PT

Session 3: Implementing Data-Driven Policy Changes
Thursday, July 29, 2021, 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. PT

Session 4: Group Sharing Session
Thursday, September 23, 2021, 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. PT

There will also be one-on-one intensive technical assistance provided to each participating team by CSG Justice Center and NCSC staff between July and September.

Please reach out to Katie Herman at kherman@csg.org with any questions.

Photo by Martin Garay on Unsplash.