High profile, front-page stories regarding the involvement of people with mental illness with the criminal justice system frequently compel county executives to take action. In the meantime, county agencies such as sheriff's departments, jails, and courts struggle to respond to the increasing numbers of individuals with mental illness with whom they come into contact, while overtaxed mental health systems struggle to serve all those in need. The Consensus Project can help elected or appointed officials to craft proactive solutions to community needs, and to promote collaboration between mental health and criminal justice agencies to respond appropriately to this population.

Though the Consensus Project encourages a systemic approach to improving the criminal justice system response to people with mental illness, we recognize the need for county executives to focus on the issues that most directly pertain to their roles. To that end, we recommend that county executives focus on the following sections: