Criminal Justice / Mental Health Consensus Project

Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Bill Headed to President's Desk

On September 29, 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Reauthorization and Improvement Act, S. 2304. The legislation passed the Senate by unanimous consent late last week and will now proceed to the President's desk for signature.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS / EVENTS

Free Webinar: Law Enforcement and People with Mental Illnesses

Mental Health Court Learning Site Judge Stephen Goss publishes paper on rural mental health courts

Justice Center Releases First National Publications on Victims of Crimes Committed by People with Mental Illnesses

New resource available: The Criminalization of Mental Illness: Crisis and Opportunity for the Justice System

CSG Justice Center Releases Essential Elements of a Specialized Law Enforcement-Based Program

Save the date: 9/21/08 - 9/24/08 NASMHPD Forensic Division 2008 Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA

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MEDIA COVERAGE

Middletown Journal (OH) - Ohio Supreme Court justice pushes for mental health dockets
10/4/08 - "Ohio Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton has been a national and state advocate for mental health dockets for seven years."

Daily Emerald (OR) - New program to teach officers crisis intervention
10/2/08 - "Eugene PD is set to begin training officers under a Crisis Intervention Team program. The new program will teach officers effective ways to deal with people who are in mental crises."

Kansas City Star (MO) - Area's 'mental health court' success expected to spread
9/23/08 - "A successful experiment in Lee's Summit and Kansas City of treating mentally ill people instead of prosecuting their minor crimes could expand to other suburbs, including Blue Springs."

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JUSTICE AND MENTAL HEALTH COLLABORATION PROGRAM

The Council of State Governments Justice Center provides technical assistance to the Bureau of Justice Assistance Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program grantees, who are planning, implementing, or expanding collaborative programs that improve responses to people with mental illnesses involved with the criminal justice system.

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INFONET

The Criminal Justice/Mental Health Information Network (InfoNet) is a new online database that provides a comprehensive inventory of collaborative criminal justice/mental health activity across the country and serves as a platform for peer-to-peer networking.

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MENTAL HEALTH COURTS

The Council of State Governments Justice Center has provided technical assistance to mental health courts across the country and now coordinates the Bureau of Justice Assistance's mental health court learning sites program.

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