***The 2006 National GAINS Center Conference, "System
Transformation at the Interface of the Criminal Justice and Mental Health Systems," is only 12 days away: April 5 - 7 in Boston, MA***
New Resource Available: Issue Brief on Violence against Women with Mental Illness
The Consensus Project is pleased to announce the release of a new issue brief: "Violence against Women with Mental Illness."
The issue brief summarizes the latest research regarding this issue, identifies some programs and resources that serve women with mental illness who are recent
victims of crime, and recommends an action agenda for the federal government.
Click here to download the brief.
State Senator Liane Sorenson (R-DE) stated, "Violence against women with mental illness is a serious problem in the United States. This issue brief will help my
colleagues in legislatures across the country, as well as other policymakers and practitioners generally, improve their understanding of this subset of crime victims,
and the extent to which current policies and service models leave these women vulnerable, unprotected, and without the health services they need."
Sorenson, vice-chair of the Council of State Governments (CSG) Eastern Regional Conference's Criminal Justice Program, which coordinates the Consensus
Project, noted that CSG and the Consensus Project will continue to make this issue a priority: "We recently assembled leaders in the victim advocacy and mental
health communities from across the country for a day-long meeting. We have asked them to assist us in the development of bipartisan policy recommendations that
experts agree will improve the response to this population."
Updates regarding the status of CSGs work in this area can be found here. Funding
from the Center for Mental Health Services, a division of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which is part of the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, made it possible for CSG to develop this resource.
If you have any questions regarding the issue brief, or Consensus Project work around this issue, please do not hesitate to contact Monica Anzaldi.
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Chief Justices of State Supreme Courts Focus Attention on Criminal Justice/Mental Health Issues
The Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) recently issued a resolution that called attention to the growing numbers of people with mental illness involved in the criminal
justice system. The resolution also recommended state supreme court chief justices "take a leadership role to address the impact of mental illness on the court
system through a collaborative effort involving stakeholders from all three branches of government." Furthermore, the resolution committed CCJ's involvement in the
Judges' Criminal Justice/Mental Health Leadership Initiative (JLI). The JLI is coordinated by the Council of State Governments (CSG) Criminal Justice/Mental Health
Consensus Project and the GAINS/TAPA Center for Jail Diversion.
State Rep. Mike Lawlor, who co-chairs CSG's Consensus Project, and the JLI's co-chairs, the Hon. Evelyn Lundberg-Stratton, Associate Justice of the Ohio
Supreme Court and the Hon. Steven Leifman, Associate Administrative Judge of Miami-Dade County, Florida, were part of a plenary session regarding this issue at
CCJ's 2006 winter meeting.
To read the complete text of the resolution, please click
here.
To learn more about the JLI, please view the initiative's latest newsletter by clicking here.
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Update on MIOTCRA Grant Solicitation
The Bureau of Justice Assistance has updated its timetable for the release of its solicitation under the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act
(MIOTCRA). BJA officials now project the solication will be made available to the field in early April. State and local governments can compete through this
solicitation for grants to fund planning and implementation efforts.
The program, which received $5 million in startup funding for FY 2006, will offer 6 implementation grants and 12 planning grants; a number of planning grant recipients
will also be eligible for implementation funding.
For more information on the grant solicitation process, please click here.
(BJA currently refers to the program as the Criminal/Juvenile Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program.)
FY 2007 funding for the MIOTCRA program is currently being considered in Congress. Representatives Jim Ramstad (R-MN) and Ted Strickland (D-OH) and Senator
Mike DeWine (R-OH) are leading the effort to support the program. For more information on the funding status of the program, please click here.
For more information on outreach efforts to Congress in support of the program, please contact Hope
Glassberg.
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Announcements
Save the date - 3/27/06 - GAINS TAPA
Net/Teleconference "Making Jail Diversion Work in Rural Communities"
Presenters include Colleen Chamberlain, Director of Planning and Evaluation for the Brown County (OH) Board of Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health
Services; Amy Forsyth-Stephens, Executive Director of the Mental Health Association of the New River Valley (VA); and Victoria Huber Cochran, Chair, Virginia
State Mental Health Board.
In-depth Look at Kentucky's Response to People with Mental Illness in the
Corrections System Available Online
The article, "Reducing Risk and Responding to Mental Health Needs: Kentucky's New System of Care," appears in the professional membership publication of the
American Correctional Association (ACA), Corrections Today. To download a copy of the report, please click here.
Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati Offers $1 Million in
Grants for Mental Illness/Criminal Justice Programs
Grant dollars will be divided between planning and start-up projects, and will be awarded on a competitive basis. Letters of intent must be submitted no later than
12:00 noon (EDT) on Wednesday, April 19, 2006.
New Study of Evidence-Based Adult Corrections Programs
Now Available
The Washington State Institute for Public Policy has released a review of evidence-based adult
corrections programs. The study, conducted by Steve Aos Phipps, Marna Miller, and Elizabeth Drake, is available here.
Criminal Justice and Mental Health in the News
Articles from the Consensus Project homepage--from newspapers around the country--covering issues at the intersection of mental health and criminal justice are
posted below. To access a complete list of media coverage, visit the media coverage page.
The Daily News Journal (TN) -
Jail project gives shot at new life
3/20/06 - "Community volunteers, the criminal justice system and mental health experts will establish services for non-violent prisoners with mental health issues."
The Reformer (VT) - A troubling intersection of criminal justice and mental
illness
3/13/06 - "...some are looking at Brodie's death as a troubling intersection of criminal justice and mental illness."
Palm Beach
Post (FL) - St. Lucie plans court for mentally ill defendants
3/13/06 - "...judges, law enforcement officers and local social services agencies, have teamed up to help create a program to handle the cases."
The Record (CA) - Law
enforcement faces psychological dilemma
3/12/06 - "With people suffering from mental illness making up more than 15 percent of inmates in jails around the country...police are encountering similar situations
with greater frequently."
Pioneer Press (MN) - Pawlenty announces $109
million mental health care plan
2/24/06 - "Too often, to get needed services, people have to go into the criminal justice system," Goodno said. "We aim to decrease that."
Metropolitan News-Enterprise (CA) - Funding Under 2004's
Proposition 63 Cannot Be Used For Mental Health Courts, Lockyer Opines
2/24/06 - "Mental health services funding authorized by Proposition 63...cannot be used to staff a mental health court, Attorney General Bill Lockyer said yesterday."
South Bend
Tribune (IN) - State psychiatric hospitals dwindle
2/20/06 - "For the many untreated mentally ill, the criminal justice system now becomes the entry point into the mental health system."
The Beacon News (IL) - $250,000
launches Mental Health Court
2/14/06 - "'The Mental Health Court addresses reality,' [Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives] Hastert said. 'People will get the counseling and treatment
they need to be productive members of society.'"
The Telegraph (IL) -
County set to launch Mental Health Court
2/13/06 - "Madison County Sheriff Robert Hertz...said the jail cannot offer proper treatment, and the costs of housing, caring for and keeping the mentally ill are a
burden on the system."
The Salt Lake
Tribune (UT) - Criminal justice system needs overhaul, officials say
2/13/06 - "...repeat offenders' crimes are often due to mental illness rather than any criminal intent...the court applies closer scrutiny, more checkups and works to
get participants stabilized on their medication."
The Capital Times (WI) - Editorial: Go slow on jail
expansion
2/9/06 - "...the prisons and jails that were built are now filled to capacity with individuals who often would be better rehabilitated in drug and alcohol treatment and
mental health settings and by jail diversion programs."
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