Last week the House Appropriations Committee passed a Commerce-Justice-Science bill that includes funding for three programs in FY2020—the Second Chance Act, the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act, and the Justice Reinvestment Initiative—aimed at increasing public safety and reducing recidivism at the local and state levels.
Congressional leaders in April took strong bipartisan action in support of three programs in FY 2020—the Second Chance Act, the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act (MIOTCRA), and the Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI)—aimed at increasing public safety and reducing recidivism at the local and state levels.
These speeches come against a backdrop of national criminal justice reform. In December 2018, President Donald Trump signed the First Step Act into law, which included the Second Chance Reauthorization Act, a bipartisan law that provides funding for reentry programs across the country.
President Trump signed the omnibus fiscal year (FY) 2019 spending bill, which provides $30.9 billion for the U.S. Department of Justice and includes $3.02 billion for various state and local law enforcement assistance grant programs.
![[Apply Now] Tribal Set-Aside Training and Technical Assistance Program](https://csgjusticecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Office-for-Victims-of-Crime-OVC-136x130.png)
The program provides funding to support tribal communities in improving services for victims of crime through a comprehensive range of activities.
![[Apply Now] Rural Jails Research & Policy Network](https://csgjusticecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/vera-logo-136x130.png){kind=logo}
The grant will support the establishment of a pilot Rural Jails Research and Policy Network through the creation of Rural Jails Research and Policy Hubs in two states .
![[Apply Now] Mental and Substance Use Disorders Prevalence Study](https://csgjusticecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/samhsa_0-136x130.png)
The purpose of this grant program is to ensure that gaps in surveillance systems are addressed through a pilot program that assists in estimating the actual number of individuals living with mental illnesses and substance addictions.
This webinar focusses on the programming developed specifically for veterans in two jurisdictions—the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office in Massachusetts and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department in California—and explains how these jurisdictions developed partnerships with their Veterans Affairs resources and other entities in their criminal justice systems.
In this webinar, representatives from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance and the National Reentry Resource Center review the FY19 Improving Reentry for Adults with Co-occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Illness application process.
In this webinar, representatives from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance and The Council of State Governments Justice Center review the FY2019 Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program application process.
This webinar provides an overview of the intersection of mental illness and the criminal justice system; describes factors contributing to the need for cultural competency as it relates to people in the criminal justice system who have mental illnesses; identifies strategies and best practices that judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys can employ when working with people of diverse backgrounds who have mental illnesses.
In this webinar, CSG Justice Center staff explain the training and technical assistance opportunities and resources available to FY18 JMHCP grantees.
In this webinar, CSG Justice Center staff explain the training and technical assistance opportunities and resources available to grantees, and staff from the Bureau of Justice Assistance provide an overview of the post-award grant management requirements.
Featuring Becki Ney of the National Resource Center on Justice-Involved Women, this webinar covers system-level strategies to maximize outcomes for women in the criminal justice system and ensure the sustainability of gender-responsive services.
In this webinar, representatives from the NRRC, along with staff from BJA, provide an overview of the Second Chance Act’s Reentry for Adults with Co-Occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Illness (CSAMI) grant program and explain the training and technical assistance opportunities that are available to grantees, including the Planning & Implementation Guide, and other resources available to grantees.
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 informational bulletin provides guidance to states and school systems about addressing mental health and substance use issues in schools.
When provided as part of the rehabilitation and reentry process for people incarcerated in correctional facilities, MAT addresses substance use as a criminogenic risk factor and may contribute to long-term recovery and reduced recidivism.
This brief outlines key components of Forensic Assertive Community Treatment (FACT), including who it serves, who provides it, and how FACT team members work with criminal justice professionals.
This brief from the Stepping Up partners presents counties with steps for examining how people who have serious mental illnesses move through a county’s criminal justice and behavioral health systems, it is one of a series of companion products designed to provide counties with further guidance on how to apply the Stepping Up framework “Reducing the Number of People with Mental Illnesses in Jail: Six Questions County Leaders Need to Ask.”
This report, updated in 2019, provides information on a wide range of evidence-based practices for screening and assessment of adults in the criminal justice system with co-occurring mental and substance use disorders.
The program, which is in development and may be ready to implement in about six months, was presented by Kate McEvoy, director of the Division of Health Services at the Connecticut Department of Social Services, and Christi Staples, New England Director of the Corporation for Supportive Housing.
Summit County officials are hopeful that recent changes at the Summit County Detention Facility will help to reduce rates of recidivism among incarcerated individuals dealing with mental health and substance abuse issues.
Chambers County Sheriff Sid Lockhart said he is entirely behind the Chambers County Commission’s efforts to treat mental health needs inside the county jail.
Pathways has an 85% housing retention rate, which means that percentage of those served retained housing for more than five years.
The Pitt County department has a jail “navigator” who helps place people into safe housing and reconnect them to benefits upon their release. The sheriff’s office is also preparing to launch a new treatment program for drug users housed in the jail.
The Miami County Jail kicked off their involvement in the Stepping Up Initiative—a national initiative to reduce the number of people with mental illnesses in jails—on June 19, joining over 45 other Ohio counties.
About 4 to 5% of Americans are seriously mentally ill, compared with as many as 18% of those in jails, according to Risë Haneberg, who leads the Stepping Up initiative on behalf of The Council of State Governments Justice Center.
Its crisis response team now has a licensed clinical social worker responding to calls for service along with officers. It’s part of their new Mental Health Co-Responder pilot program.
Knowing many of the teens have been sitting in jail cells and thinking for hours about what landed them there, Bettina Graf—restorative practices lead for the San Mateo County Office of Education—focuses on helping them separate their actions from their identities before they begin classes in the county’s court and community schools.
A five-year study by the Center for Behavioral Health and Justice at Wayne State University’s School of Social Work found that diverting individuals with mental health disorders into treatment programs rather than simply jailing them significantly reduces the jail population and reduces the chances of recidivism.