Press Room
The Consensus Project is coordinated by:
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE / MENTAL HEALTH CONSENSUS PROJECT RESOURCES TO ASSIST BJA 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
develop, 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,
including frequently asked questions about the application
process, please click here or contact Robert Hendricks at
202-305-1909.
The deadline for applications is June 2 at 8:00 pm.
The resources provided below are organized into four section. 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-occuring 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 these four categories: knowledge base, systems, services, and resources.
- Fact Sheet: Jails and Mental Illness: Spotlights prominent
research on the prevalence of people with
mental illness in jails, including statistics regarding the outcomes of specialized jail programs.
- 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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