High profile, front-page stories regarding people with mental illness and their involvement with the criminal justice system frequently compel state legislators to take action. The Consensus Project can help lawmakers respond to these incidents thoughtfully and effectively, and 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 state legislators to focus on the issues that most directly pertain to their roles. To that end, we recommend that state legislators focus on the following sections: