Recognition of the significance and prevalence of trauma issues for individuals in the criminal justice system is growing and systems are responding by becoming trauma-informed. In Trauma Services in Criminal Justice Settings: What, Why & How, Joan Gillece, Ph.D. presented information on what trauma is and how it can affect those involved in the criminal justice system. Flo Hepola, a mental health clinician, addressed the challenges to providing trauma services in the criminal justice setting and ways practitioners can address these challenges. The webinar concluded with a question-and-answer session with the presenters.

A new study by the Texas Task Force on Indigent Defense (TFID), Representing the Mentally Ill Offender , found positive criminal justice and treatment outcomes for participants in mental health courts (MHCs) and defendants served by mental health public defender’s offices (MHPDs).

This section highlights profiles from the LPD that detail interesting collaborative criminal justice/mental health initiatives from around the country. This month, the Justice Center spotlights the Los Angeles City Police Department, a partner to the grantee profiled above and an active participant on the LPD. Below is an excerpt from their online profile, which can be read in full by clicking here.

Los Angeles City Police Department

Program start year:
Earlier than 2005

Primary specialized response:
Mental health professionals partner with law enforcement officers to provide on-scene crisis intervention and referral.

Secondary specialized response:
Mental health providers, often as members of a mobile crisis team, are called in by law enforcement to provide crisis intervention at the scene.

Each month, the Justice Center spotlights collaborative criminal justice/mental health initiatives that have received funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance's Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP). Justice Center staff members ask the practitioners in these programs to discuss some successes and challenges they have encountered in the planning and implementation process. This month's profile is from the Los Angeles County, Calif., Sheriff’s Department, a 2009 expansion grantee.

Project Summary:

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD), in collaboration with Special Service for Groups (SSG)—a community service provider, were awarded a 2009 JMHCP expansion grant to advance existing in-jail therapeutic services for people with mental illness and/or co-occurring substance use disorders. The LASD and SSG’s Project DIRECT (Direct Intervention for Re-entry through Employment, Counseling, and Treatment) already provides in-jail services that include education/GED preparation, peer-to-peer support groups, Moral Reconation Therapy treatment, and substance use disorder education. The expansion grant will facilitate an increase in treatment hours and add new services including trauma support groups, co-occurring support groups, housing education, and job skills/employment preparation and the development of comprehensive release plans for all clients.

The second part of Working with Data for Mental Health Court Practitioners presented perspectives on data analysis, including considerations for doing cost-benefit analyses and offer suggestions for generating data-based communications for internal and external audiences. Andrew Barbee, senior research associate at the CSG Justice Center, presented different types of data analysis and offered suggestions for how to use analysis for program management and research. Cynthea Kimmelman-DeVries, director of administrative services at the Bronx Mental Health Court (N.Y.), one of the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Mental Health Court Learning Sites, discussed developing data-based communications for different audiences.

Each month the Justice Center spotlights collaborative criminal justice/mental health initiatives that have received funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance's Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP). Justice Center staff members ask the practitioners in these programs to discuss some successes and challenges they have encountered in the planning and implementation process. This month's profile is from Fayette County, Texas, a 2009 Planning grantee. Brief background on the jurisdiction Fayette County, Texas, is a rural community roughly halfway between Austin and Houston. It encompasses 950 square miles of land area, with a total population of 22,521. The collaborating entities on this grant are Bluebonnet Trails Community Mental Health Mental Retardation (MHMR) Center (the local mental health authority) and the 155th District Criminal Court. Our proposal centered on the development of a mental health court initiative at the county level, but we were cognizant at the beginning that the strategies we implement will likely go beyond the court level, which has proven to be the case. This area has virtually no history of mental health and criminal justice collaboration, but team members were eager for solutions.

This webinar provided practitioners with an orientation to data collection in mental health courts and offered concrete skills for working with data in Microsoft Excel. The webinar featured perspectives on collecting data from Cynthea Kimmelman, director of administrative services at the Bronx Mental Health Court (NY), one of the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Mental Health Court Learning Sites. Andrew Barbee, senior research associate at the CSG Justice Center, demonstrated basic Excel features that facilitate data collection and analysis. This portion of the presentation included step-by-step instructions on how to best use selected features in Microsoft Excel 2003 (Excel 2007 analogs will be mentioned). The webinar concluded with a question-and-answer session with Ms. Kimmelman and Mr. Barbee, as well as Hallie Fader-Towe, policy analyst, CSG Justice Center, who provided perspectives on the issue of data collection among mental health courts nationwide.

Four years ago Mary^* was sexually assaulted. After this incident, daily living became difficult. Mary engaged in substance use, had no home, and no steady employment. Mary began experiencing trauma-related symptoms, including being fearful of any new surroundings and feared the company of new people. On the one-year anniversary of the sexual assault, Mary attempted suicide. On the second-year anniversary, Mary was detained by police for drunken and disorderly conduct. The police officers, noting her inebriated state, attempted to take her to a treatment facility. Unbeknownst to the officers, they had brought her to the very medical facility where she had been sexually assaulted two years prior, and upon arriving, Mary resisted arrest and was charged with assault.

After arrest and during her jail stay, Mary became involved in a therapeutic trauma group operated by the Washtenaw, Mich., Justice Project Outreach Team (JPORT), a current Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP) expansion grantee. JPORT is using its funding to enhance the trauma-informed care that they offer their clients in the jail and through their transition to either community corrections or the community. As a result of JPORT’s therapeutic trauma groups, Mary’s trauma symptoms subsided, so that on the third anniversary of her sexual assault, Mary was living independently and had stopped using drugs. To celebrate her new-found independence, she took a trip to Florida to relax at a self-help retreat.

JPORT provides a team-based continuum of services from diversion to community re-entry. With their current expansion grant, they are working to expand trauma services to both people within the jail and those under community supervision. A summary of some of their grant activities follows.

This webinar provided an overview of the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program and the current FY2010 solicitation for potential applicants. Bureau of Justice Assistance staff discussed program eligibility, the required application materials, and other important information and resources.

The Consensus Project reminds readers to visit the newest version of the Local Programs Database (LPD). This online database catalogues profiles of mental health courts, specialized law enforcement programs, and other local and state-based mental health/criminal justice programs throughout the country. The new LPD features many improvements that make it one of the strongest information-sharing tools in the field of criminal justice/mental health.

Each month, the Justice Center spotlights collaborative criminal justice/mental health initiatives that have received funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance's Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP ).

Starting this month, the Justice Center will also spotlight profiles from the Local Programs Database (LPD) that detail interesting collaborative criminal justice/mental health initiatives from around the country. This month the Justice Center spotlights the Chatham-Savannah Mental Health Court, a 2009 JMHCP expansion grantee, former 2006 planning grantee, and an active participant on the LPD.

Program Summary

The Chatham-Savannah Mental Health Court (CSMHC) began in September of 2007. The program targets adults who have a documented primary mental health diagnosis with or without a co-occurring substance abuse disorder and have been charged with a non-violent misdemeanor or felony. The program plans to expand its capacity by adding one case manager; participating in various training events; and incorporating other elements to the program such as drug screens and Sheriff's Department supervision.

On December 16th, Lourdes Rosado provided strategies to improve outcomes for youth and reduce their deeper involvement into the juvenile and criminal justice systems.

Each month the Justice Center spotlights collaborative criminal justice/mental health initiatives that have received funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance's Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP). Center staff asks the practitioners in these programs to discuss some successes and challenges they have encountered in the planning and implementation process. This month's profile is from Deschutes County, Oregon, a 2008 Implementation and Expansion grantee.

Program Summary

The Deschutes County Mental Health Court in central Oregon received an expansion grant to increase access to services for its target population: moderate- to high-risk adults who have pled guilty to a misdemeanor or felony crime, have a diagnosed mental illness or dual diagnosis of mental illness and substance abuse, and demonstrate a willingness to participate in the program as an alternative to incarceration in the county’s jail facility.

The expansion builds on a program in place since 2002 through a partnership among the Deschutes County Mental Health Department, the District Attorney’s Office, the Circuit Court, and the Alternatives to Incarceration Committee in Deschutes County. Under the expansion grant, the program, which serves a mostly rural community, has grown to include twenty-five participants at a given time–double its initial size. The mental health court has also increased awareness and understanding about mental health issues in the criminal justice system through educational programs aimed at attorneys and local law enforcement.

With a growing awareness of the mental health problems facing many recent U.S. Armed Services veterans and some evidence of its impact on their involvement with the criminal justice system, there is increasing interest in the field in diversion programs that particularly address veterans’ concerns. In response to this interest, the Justice Center has compiled the brief summary below of some of the new programs and initiatives targeting veterans with mental health conditions involved with the justice system.

Each month the Justice Center spotlights collaborative criminal justice/mental health initiatives that have received funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance's Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP). Center staff asks the practitioners in these programs to discuss some successes and challenges they have encountered in the planning and implementation process. This month's profile is from San Francisco, a 2008 JMHCP Implementation and Expansion Grantee.

Program Summary

San Francisco AIIM (Assess, Identify Needs, Integrate Information, and Match to Services) Higher is a partnership between the San Francisco Juvenile Probation Department and the Department of Public Health’s Child, Youth and Family System of Care. SF AIIM Higher is a program that offers data-driven assessment, planning, and linkage services that engage juvenile justice-involved youth and their families in targeted and effective community-based interventions.

In a webinar on November 18th, Dr. Jennifer Skeem provided an overview of how criminogenic risk factors contribute to the involvement of people with mental illnesses in the criminal justice system.

The webinar, held on October 29th, described an innovative program to ensure that eligible individuals have access to Medicaid on their release date or soon after, including evaluation data documenting the program's effects. Bob Mann, from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, detailed components of the program, which involved extensive collaboration among the state's corrections, mental health, and Medicaid agencies. Dr. Henry Ireys, of Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., presented results of an evaluation of the impact of the program on Medicaid enrollment, service use, and other outcomes. Seth Prins, from the Council of State Governments Justice Center, highlighted the Justice Center’s federal benefits tools. Finally, there was a question and answer session with the presenters.

Click here to download or listen to the webinar.

Click here to download the slides

To access the Keys to Federal Benefits Access, click here.

To access the Federal Benefits Chart, click here.

The Council of State Governments Justice Center announced the release of Mental Health Courts: A Guide to Research-Informed Policy and Practice. The guide examines available studies on mental health courts and translates the findings to help policymakers and practitioners understand their design and function, as well as their success. Supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the guide reviews how mental health courts address the issues related to people with mental illnesses in the criminal justice system.