The majority of people in prison and jail have a substance use disorder. Despite the promise demonstrated by some treatment programs for people who are incarcerated, just a fraction of the people who need services for substance abuse receive it. Connecting people incarcerated to treatment programs proven to be effective, prioritizing resources for those nearing release, and encouraging community-based aftercare will ensure better outcomes for people released from prisons and jails, and the communities to which they return.
Providing answers on relevant topics concerning Mental Health, Health and Substance Abuse topics.
“We really became committed to reentry,” said Rockdale County Lieutenant Dennis Pass. “So going to command staff and getting buy-in for using this tool wasn’t difficult. They knew finding a tool that doesn’t take a clinician to use is tough, so this was a perfect fit.”
Following in the footsteps of two Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program grantees—Olathe and Overland Park, Kansas—11 other cities in Johnson County, Kansas, will partner with the Johnson County Mental Health Center to implement a mental health co-responder program this year.
The tragedies of the past week weigh heavily on us. As public safety officials in our respective states, we were outraged to see the very people working to protect the public murdered because of the uniform they wear. We also feel deeply for residents of communities who, because of the color of their skin, fear the people who have sworn an oath to protect them.
“It’s about showing up and having people’s back … and I believe the only way we make real change in terms of the discrimination related to mental health is when we normalize it,” said Jennifer Mehnert, executive director of Maine chapter of NAMI.
Recently, the House Appropriations Committee approved a federal spending bill that allocates $29 billion for Department of Justice programs in FY2017.
Two counties—one in Ohio, the other in Utah—are backing their words with action following separate reports from The Council of State Governments Justice Center that highlighted major disparities in the length of time people with serious mental illnesses stay in each county’s local jail and the rate at which they’re rearrested following their release compared to people with out these illnesses.
The Center for Juvenile Justice Reform (CJJR), in partnership with the Center for Coordinated Assistance to the States, has issued a request for applications from jurisdictions seeking to engage in multi-system improvement efforts.
On May 25, the CSG Justice Center welcomed Mack Jenkins to its Justice Reinvestment team as a senior policy advisor. In his new role, Mr. Jenkins will leverage his nearly 40 years of criminal justice experience to assist supervision agencies in states across the country in adopting best practices to reduce recidivism and increase public safety.
On May 9, The CSG Justice Center will welcome Richard Cho to its staff as director of the national nonprofit’s Behavioral Health division. In this role, Mr. Cho will lead all initiatives related to The CSG Justice Center’s behavioral health work, which is designed to improve public safety outcomes, reduce the overrepresentation of people with mental illnesses and substance use disorders in the criminal justice system, and promote recovery for this population.
The U.S. Department of Justice recently announced that $53 million in grants will be awarded to 45 jurisdictions under the Second Chance Act program in FY 2015. Including this year’s cohort of grantees, more than 700 SCA grants have been awarded to agencies and organizations in 49 states since 2008.
Grant funding often provides seed money to help agencies launch new programs. However, once the grant has expended, finding additional funds to sustain a program can be challenging. This webinar discusses how other funding streams can be leveraged, and partnerships developed, to help sustain a program.
This webinar is designed for Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program and Second Chance Act Reentry Program for Adults with Co-occurring Substance Use and Mental Disorders grantees and features speakers from three different grant programs that are utilizing MAT in jail and community-based settings for people involved in the justice system.
In this webinar, officials from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance and The Council of State Governments Justice Center explain the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program and its application process.
This webinar was presented to Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program and Second Chance Act Co-Occurring Substance Use and Mental Disorders grantees discussed strategies for developing information sharing collaborations between criminal justice and behavioral health systems.
During this webinar, officials from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance explain the grant program and application process and respond to questions from the field about the grant program.
This webinar discusses the best practices for screening and assessment of co-occurring substance use and mental disorders in the criminal justice system.
This webinar discusses how individuals access treatment as they reenter their communities from prisons and jails, as well as the process measures that can assist in reentry.
This webinar addresses how Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) programs can collaborate with other Bureau of Justice Assistance-funded programs.
This webinar is for the FY2015 Second Chance Act grantees focused on adult offenders with co-occurring substance use and mental disorders.
This archived webinar from the TA Network and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration discusses the overuse of psychotropic medication among children and youth with behavioral health needs, particularly among those enrolled in Medicaid.
This report offers a portrait of women in jail, explores how jail can deepen the societal disadvantages they face, and provides insight into what drives women’s incarceration and ways to reverse the trend.
This report offers recommendations about successful stigma-change campaigns, how best to encourage people to seek treatment and supportive services for themselves or others, and the research needed to inform and evaluate these efforts in the U.S.
This analysis explains recent guidance from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on how states and localities may facilitate access to Medicaid coverage for individuals before, during, and after a correctional institution stay.
This publication discusses best practices regarding Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act in the areas of parity implementation processes, collaborations with other organizations, tools for understanding and monitoring compliance, and recommendations for other states.
To explore how the quality of relationships and interactions affect outcomes for people with mental illness and their families, the National Alliance on Mental Illness worked to better understand the process of engagement in mental health care.
This report from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics presents selected findings on the provision of health care services in U.S. state prisons based on a survey of state departments of corrections and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
This report highlights best practices for policymakers to ensure that people with disabilities have access to appropriate services at every stage of the justice system.
As directed by a bill passed by the Washington State legislature in 2012 regarding prevention and intervention services for children and juveniles, this report reflects promising program applications and the Washington State Institute for Public Policy’s ongoing work on systematic research reviews and its benefit-cost model.
This brief provides an overview of initiatives to connect the justice-involved population to Medicaid coverage and care in three states—Arizona, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.
This report details recent evaluations of Bureau of Justice Assistance-funded programs, which include services, grant administration, and criminal justice policy designed to build safer communities.
The funds awarded today are part of the Obama administration’s ongoing efforts to reduce recidivism and promote reintegration of formerly incarcerated individuals.
The Division of Corrections also has been helping inmates sign up for Medicaid ahead of their release or parole, Hissom said.
A bill draft addressing criminal justice reform will be ready for the 2017 Legislature next week.
“I was putting people in jail thinking that they would get treatment because I didn’t know any better,” said Ohio Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton.
As police forces across the country re-evaluate their practices regarding encounters with people with mental health problems, Minneapolis authorities are considering an approach that might seem to fly in the face of conventional policing wisdom: Stand down, and leave it to the professionals.
“Knowledge is power and I feel that if I can send officers out in the field with more knowledge and more tools for their tool box, then they will be able to handle mental health crisis calls better and foster better outcomes for all involved,” explained Domino Scott-Jackson, a Pasadena Police officer who has become the face of the Police-Mental Health Collaboration Toolkit video produced by The CSG Justice Center.
Seen by experts as an important piece in drug and mental health treatment, peer coaches are rare in North Dakota, where there is no common certification process. But new funding sources and a growing interest in making them more available could bring them to cities around the state, potentially adding manpower to a thin treatment workforce.
Mental health workers are joining Denver police on foot and in their patrol cars to help handle calls involving people in mental health crisis, a new program aimed at getting people into treatment instead of sending them to jail.
The Near West Side hospital in Chicago has set aside $250,000 for a pilot program to put some of its chronically homeless emergency department users in subsidized housing and to provide them with case managers to help handle a range of needs.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy recently announced grants to provide funding to local community coalitions for preventing youth substance use including prescription drugs, marijuana, tobacco, and alcohol.