Press Room
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE / MENTAL HEALTH CONSENSUS PROJECT RESOURCES TO ASSIST JUSTICE AND MENTAL HEALTH COLLABORATION PROGRAM GRANT APPLICANTS
This feature provides resources that you may find useful as you develop an application for funding support
through the Justice and Mental
Health Collaboration Program, administered through the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of
Justice.
ABOUT THE JUSTICE AND MENTAL HEALTH COLLABORATION PROGRAM: The grant program
is authorized by the Mentally Ill
Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2004. Grants may be used to plan, plan and implement, and
implement and expand a wide variety of programs designed to improve collaboration between criminal justice and
mental health systems. For more information on the grant program click here or contact Robert Hendricks at 202-305-1909.
The deadline for applications is December 12 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
The resources provided below are organized into four sections. Click the links to jump to a particular
section:
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Without adequate training and access to community-based mental health resources, law enforcement officers face
tremendous obstacles in responding to people with mental illness. This section identifies resources for local
law enforcement agencies considering applying for a grant.
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COURTS
People with mental illness appear repeatedly before judges and cycle in and out of jail for low-level crimes
which are often the result of untreated mental illness. This section identifies resources for people who are
considering applying for a grant to support a mental health court or other court-based initiative targeting
defendants with a mental illness.
- Essential Elements of a
Mental Health Court: Outlines 10 elements essential to mental health court design and implementation
and provides background on why each element is important and how courts can adhere to it. (Product currently in
draft form).
- A Guide to Mental
Health Court Design and Implementation: Explains critical issues such as determining whether to
establish a mental health court, defining the target population, ensuring confidentiality, sustaining the
court, and other key considerations.
- A Guide to Collecting
Mental Health Court Outcome Data: Describes practical strategies for collecting data and evaluating the
effectiveness of mental health courts. Written for mental health court practitioners and policymakers who want
to measure the impact of court-based programs.
- Navigating the
Mental Health Maze: A Guide for Criminal Justice Personnel: Provides a crash course for criminal
justice professionals whose understanding of mental illness and the mental health system may be
limited.
- A Judges' Primer on
Mental Illness, Addictive Disorders, Co-occurring Disorders, and Integrated Treatment: A one-page
reference, written for judges, on mental illness, addictive disorders, co-occurring disorders, and integrated
treatment.
- Online Program Profiles of Mental Health Courts and Other Court-Based Programs: Allows users to
search through court-based programs and post questions directly to representatives of these programs. The
database contains program profiles in the following issue areas: Pre-trial, Adjudication and Sentencing, and Training.
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CORRECTIONS-BASED PROGRAMS
The number of people with mental illness who are in prison or jail, or under probation or parole supervision,
has increased dramatically in recent years. This section identifies resources for people who are considering
applying for a grant to support an initiative targeting people with mental illness upon their admission to jail
or prison, while they are incarcerated, and after they are released to the community to the supervision of
probation and/or parole.
- Collaboration Assessment Tool: Enables leaders
in corrections or mental health organizations to assess their current level of collaboration and chart a course
for improving collaboration in four categories: knowledge base, systems, services, and resources.
- Consensus Project Report
Recommendations: Offers detailed recommendations, endorsed by leaders representing jail, prison,
community correction, and mental health systems across the country, to help policymakers and practitioners
improve corrections-based responses to people with mental illness.
- Re-Entry Policy Council Report Recommendations: Offers detailed recommendations for
improving the likelihood of successful re-entry among adults with mental illness released from prison and
jail.
- Navigating the
Mental Health Maze: A Guide for Criminal Justice Personnel: Provides a crash course for criminal
justice professionals whose understanding of mental illness and the mental health system may be
limited.
- SSI/SSA and Medicaid: Provides background, relevant research, and case studies on
promptly connecting people released from prison and jail, including those with mental illness, with Medicaid
and other federal benefits.
- Online Program Profiles of Corrections/Mental Health Programs: Allows users to search through
corrections/mental health programs in the following areas and post questions directly to representatives of
these programs. The database contains program profiles in the following issue areas: Detention, Incarceration, Release Decision, Transition Planning, Post-Release Supervision, and Training.
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MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCATES
In communities across the country, mental health advocates have been a driving force for change in improving
responses to people with mental illness involved in the criminal justice system. But while advocates in these
communities may be familiar with how the lives of individuals with mental illness in the criminal justice
systems can be impacted, they may be less familiar with how to engage potential partners in these systems. The
resource in this section provides strategies for advocates to reach out to representatives from criminal
justice / mental health systems who may be applying for grants.
- The Advocacy Handbook: Recommends
strategies to mental health advocates who want to improve outcomes for people with mental illness involved in
the criminal justice system and are seeking to engage and focus policymakers and leaders in the criminal
justice system.
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