New Hampshire Commission Reviews Final Policy Recommendations to Reduce Reliance on Incarceration as Part of Justice Reinvestment Initiative

On July 11, 2024, the New Hampshire Governor’s Advisory Commission on Mental Illness and the Corrections System met to review state-level data analysis and final policy recommendations presented by CSG Justice Center staff as part of New Hampshire’s Justice Reinvestment Initiative. New Hampshire is committed to reducing its use of incarceration for people with substance use disorder and mental health challenges by decreasing recidivism and associated costs, as well as improving public health and safety.

Key Findings from the Presentation to the Advisory Commission

• People who are high utilizers of jails and prisons in New Hampshire frequently cycle through the system for lower-level offenses and supervision violations, leading to high incarceration costs for counties and the state.
  • Supervision violations primarily drive state prison admissions, despite low parole revocation rates for new offenses.

• People in the criminal justice system struggle with behavioral health conditions and have difficulty finding housing, transportation, and treatment services.
  • People who are high utilizers of jails and prisons rely heavily on Medicaid for substance use disorder and mental health services.
  • The analysis found that access to medications for opioid use disorder after release is crucial to reduce the likelihood of relapse and overdose.

Proposed Actions to Address These Findings

1. Improve behavioral health responses by enhancing Medicaid care and expanding available services.
2. Improve prison reentry and supervision responses by strengthening case management, developing relationships and making connections to behavioral health care in the community, and standardizing community supervision practices.
3. Develop a collaborative care model across criminal justice and behavioral health systems.
4. Provide more research-supported training and resources to Department of Corrections staff, including trauma-informed approaches, gender responsivity, and behavior change strategies.
5. Expand data collection and monitoring by creating an identification number that follows each person through the system and data dashboards to help the state more quickly understand and respond to trends.

Going forward, members of the Governor’s Advisory Commission will identify which, if any, of the proposed policy recommendations to pursue as legislation to better address the complex needs of people who are high utilizers of the state’s criminal justice system.

The Governor’s Advisory Commission, a bipartisan, interbranch working group tasked with examining and making recommendations on issues facing people with mental illnesses in the corrections system, is overseeing this work as part of the Justice Reinvestment Initiative. This effort is funded by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs’ Bureau of Justice Assistance, The Pew Charitable Trusts, and Arnold Ventures, and was jointly initiated by leaders from New Hampshire’s executive, legislative, and judicial branches as well as county leadership.

This project was supported by Grant No. 15PBJA-21-GK-04348-JRIX awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Office for Victims of Crime, and the SMART Office. Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.