The Senate Appropriations Committee recently approved the fiscal year 2019 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill, which provides $30.7 billion for the U.S. Department of Justice and includes $2.87 billion for various state and local law enforcement assistance grant programs.
The U.S. House Appropriations Committee recently approved the fiscal year 2019 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill on a vote of 32-19. The bill provides $30.7 billion for the U.S. Department of Justice and includes $2.9 billion for various state and local law enforcement assistance grant programs.
“Part of the success of this has been an openness to identifying how we can do things differently in our community when it comes to mental health care and the criminal justice system,” said Paula Verrett, a NAMI recovery specialist who has worked directly with the OCMHC since its inception.
A disproportionate number of people in the nation’s criminal justice system face mental health issues: a Bureau of Justice Statistics report found, for example, that people in U.S. prisons and jails are three to five times more likely to experience serious psychological distress than the general adult population. While there is an overwhelming need to provide effective treatment, challenges exist in quantifying the extent of that need and taking a strategic approach across systems—from law enforcement to community-based reentry services.
The Coalition for Juvenile Justice will host a youth summit that brings together young people from across the country who are interested in juvenile justice reform and aims to cultivate and empower the next generation of leaders by providing them with the tools they need to leverage their lived expertise.
This webinar from the SAMHSA–HRSA Center for Integrated Health Solutions will share best practices from innovative programs formed by local jails and behavioral health providers (including those working in integrated primary care settings) partnering to ensure continuity of care and timely access to care when people are released from jail.
The program provides funding for resources and coordination to increase the ability of American Indian and/or Alaska Native tribal communities to provide comprehensive and culturally appropriate services to crime victims, their families, and the community.
In this webinar, Leigh Ann Davis, director of the National Center on Criminal Justice & Disability, discusses differences and similarities between various kinds of behavioral health diagnoses and I/DD, how to identify someone with I/DD, and tips for to work more effectively with people with I/DD in correctional settings.
In this webinar, representatives from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance and the National Reentry Resource Center review the FY18 Improving Reentry for Adults with Co-occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Illness application process.
This webinar focusses on a community-based behavioral health treatment provider as the lead case planner. The webinar feature the reentry programs of Bridgeway Recovery Services in Salem, Oregon.
In this webinar, representatives from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance and the CSG Justice Center review the FY2018 Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program grant application process.
This webinar provides an overview of national estimates of incarcerated veterans; explains components of the Veterans Health Administration’s veterans justice programs; expands awareness of the needs of veterans in the justice system; and discusses new developments in the Veterans Administration and community interventions to provide services to veterans in the justice system.
This webinar provides a general overview of how to assess organizational capacity and present an implementation plan in a grant proposal.
This webinar features Roger Peters, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist and professor in the Department of Mental Health Law and Policy at the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida. The webinar discusses the prevalence of co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders among people involved in the criminal justice system, as well as effective screening and assessment instruments to use with this population.
The webinar provides a conceptual overview of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office reentry program in Greenfield, Massachusetts, and discusses the program’s processes in three key areas: 1) interagency collaboration and information sharing; 2) staff training; and 3) screening and assessment as part of their collaborative comprehensive case plan process.
During this webinar, judges and other court personnel learn about the tips for recognizing indications of a mental illness and/or substance use disorder in the courtroom, the process for treatment recommendation and referral for defendants with behavioral health needs, and how to collaborate with behavioral health care providers in their communities
In this webinar, CSG Justice Center staff explain the training and technical assistance opportunities and resources available to FY17 JMHCP Category 3 Implementation & Expansion grantees.
This report focuses on homelessness among youth ages 18 to 24 within the juvenile and criminal justice systems and provides a resource for policymakers, practitioners, and other stakeholders.
This publication from the Police Executive Research Forum includes information on problem-solving, innovation, and partnerships in the police response to homelessness, and is built upon stories from law enforcement leaders sharing successes and best practices from their jurisdictions.
This report from the Research and Training Center for Pathways to Positive Futures addresses challenges faced by transition-aged youth and young adults with mental health conditions as they try to find and maintain stable housing.
This publication from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation examines how public safety personnel, health professionals, and service providers can contribute to solving the problem of Frequent Utilizers—those who cycle in and out of jails, hospitals, shelters, and other social service programs at a startlingly high rate.
This issue paper from the Community Oriented Correctional Health Services describes how medications are prescribed and dispensed in a criminal justice system setting, including through the use of health information technology.
Too many county jails either have no standard screenings for mental illness or screenings that are subpar—turning institutions of incarceration into de facto psychiatric units.
County commissioner George Murdock said mental illness is a major concern nationwide and Umatilla County is no different. “We have way too many people in jail suffering from mental illness,” he said.
Teams of two mental health experts from Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare will cover 12-hour shifts and answer police calls in the community. The outreach could give law enforcement deeper insight into people who are already on the county’s mental health radar, as well as provide a point of contact for people with undiagnosed or untreated mental illness.
Recently, the Westminster Police Department became the first in the state to meet the requirements among the seven agencies that have taken the pledge. Chief of Police Jeff Spaulding told us it was important Westminster be part of the campaign because “of the prevalence of these calls in the city and the need to ensure that officers are handling them in a safe and effective manner which optimizes the potential of a positive outcome for everyone involved.”
Bill Giguere, development director with the Mental Health Center of North Central Alabama, told commissioners that the Stepping Up Initiative would allow the center to hire a case manager to coordinate between the Morgan County Jail, Decatur Morgan Hospital, and other county hospitals to help identify and communicate about those who have a mental illness.
Turning Leaf’s model—which has few counterparts, according to a survey of experts and of comparable programs on the National Reentry Resource Center’s website—is to pay formerly incarcerated people to take at least 150 hours of cognitive behavioral therapy, a “dosage” that research shows patients need in order to change a habit.
Thad Tatum is one of the founders of Voice of the Experienced (VOTE), a nonprofit whose mission centers around advocating for and empowering those personally affected by the criminal justice system. A small part of the New Orleans-based organization’s efforts involves fostering an open dialogue around mental health and the trauma that incarceration may cause.
In some states, including New York, authorities can keep attempting to restore a defendant’s mental capacity until the person has served two-thirds of the maximum sentence he or she would receive if eventually found guilty. Mario Ramos’s maximum sentence is life in prison, and so he sits trapped in Rikers, serving out two-thirds of his life, an unofficial sentence with no verdict and no certain end point.
The Westminster Police Department became the first Maryland law enforcement agency to complete the One Mind Campaign. The initiative set forth four actionable items for departments to complete to improve the way police respond when they encounter individuals with mental illnesses.
Police officers are being asked more and more to act as social workers. Now officers in Janesville Wisconsin are getting help from a real social worker in dealing with people having mental-health crises. “I wish we had enough money to do it at every police department,” said Lt. Mike Blaser, the department’s lead crisis intervention officer.