A community audit will enable criminal justice officials to identify the mental health system representatives in their jurisdiction - including large and small service providers and those that serve isolated, ethnic, or low-income communities. In conducting this audit, partners should also identify providers outside of the mental health community who deliver services to some of the same clients. Drug treatment providers and low-income housing administrators are two examples.

Good sources for conducting the audit include larger mental health clearinghouses or providers, the Internet, the yellow pages, the news media, and staff within the criminal justice agency. Criminal justice officials should also contact agencies and organizations of which they are members, officers, board members, or trustees. The audit should apply a snowball approach, where identified contacts are asked to contribute names of additional relevant stakeholders.

In addition to leads identified during the local audit, organizations with a national perspective, including national membership associations, can provide some additional valuable referrals.