Hello from the Consensus Project!
With summer winding down, the Consensus Project will be returning to its regular monthly e-newsletter schedule. We are also pleased to introduce Seth Prins, the newest addition to the Consensus Project team; Seth will be managing web site content and this e-newsletter. As always, we encourage you to provide feedback or send us information about events that might be of interest to other readers: please contact us at .
Sincerely,
Consensus Project Staff
State-Level Initiatives to Promote and Sustain Local Efforts
How can statewide collaboration between criminal justice and mental health systems sustain local efforts?
The origins of crisis intervention teams, mental health courts, and programs to improve transition planning for people released from local jails can typically be traced to the efforts of leaders at the local level. A judge, a police chief, a sheriff, or a mental health advocate, for example, brings people together and insists that the criminal justice and mental health care systems work together to improve their response to people with mental illness. Refusing to wait for state funding or a federal grant, these "agents of change" develop new programs that improve outcomes for people with mental illness in the criminal justice system, make their communities safer, and improve the use of existing resources.
But sooner or later, coordination and leadership at the state level must be provided in order to sustain these innovative local efforts, replicate them in other counties and municipalities, and ensure quality of service delivery and fidelity to program models across jurisdictions.
This feature profiles statewide criminal justice/mental health initiatives in Texas, Connecticut, Ohio, and California. Each of these initiatives goes beyond typical state-level taskforces or blue-ribbon commissions that are established to assess the problem and submit a plan of action to the legislature or governor. Instead, the initiatives profiled below have the funding, staff, and authority to promote and sustain local efforts. Read more....
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Initiative Profiles:
Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments (TCOOMMI)
Texas' statewide initiative, TCOOMII, is one approach to formalizing collaboration between the criminal justice and mental health care systems. Read more.....
Connecticut Alliance to Benefit Law Enforcement (CABLE)
CABLE's state-funded Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training reflects one approach to stimulating new efforts in police departments where officials have yet to improve their response to people with mental illness. Read more....
Ohio Criminal Justice Coordinating Center of Excellence
The Ohio Criminal Justice Coordinating Center of Excellence (CJ/CCoE) was established in 2001 to promote jail diversion for people with mental illness throughout the state. Read more....
California Assembly Bill 34
The grant program created under California's Assembly Bill 34 (AB34) reflects a statewide approach to funding, supporting, and evaluating local programs to improve outcomes for people with mental illness at risk of homelessness and frequent contact with the criminal justice system. Read more....
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Upcoming Events
A calendar of upcoming mental health/criminal justice events. Save these dates:
October 11: GAINS TAPA Center to host Net/Teleconference on Juvenile Diversion Programs and Mental Health Courts
The National GAINS TAPA Center for Jail Diversion, a project of Policy Research Associates (PRA), is conducting a Net/Teleconference on Thursday, October 11 from 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm (EST) on juvenile diversion programs and mental health courts. Read more....
Updates from the Field
Summaries of relevant mental health/criminal justice events since the last newsletter. For more updates, please click here.
SAMHSA Releases New Treatment Improvement Protocol on Substance Abuse Treatment and the Criminal Justice System
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released a new
Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP 44) that presents clinical guidelines to help substance abuse treatment counselors who treat persons in the criminal justice system. Read more....
Breakfast Forum and Film Screening with Producers of The New Asylums
The After Prison Initiative of the Open Society Institute hosted a breakfast forum on incarceration and mental illness with the producers of The New Asylums, a documentary about people with mental illness in Ohio's state prisons. The film, which premiered in May 2005, aired as part of PBS's FRONTLINE public affairs series. A panel discussion with the producers, advocates, and practitioners followed the screening. Read more....
GAINS Center Conducts Net/Teleconference on Enrolling Jail Diversion Program Participants in Medicaid, SSI/SSDI
The National GAINS TAPA Center for Jail Diversion conducted a Net/Teleconference on Thursday, August 25 that focused on the challenge of enrolling jail diversion program participants in Medicaid and SSI/SSDI. Read more....
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Mental Health and Criminal Justice in the News
Articles from newspapers around the country covering issues at the intersection of mental health and criminal justice are posted below. Articles are sorted by issue area: mental health, law enforcement, courts, corrections, and victim services and advocacy (articles are posted more than once if their subject applies to multiple issue areas). To access a complete list of media coverage, visit the media coverage page.
| Mental Health |
TennCare turns jail into ward
By Judith R. Tackett, The Nashville City Paper, September 16, 2005.
Advocates for Mentally Ill Defend Housing Program Used by Stabbing Suspect
By Alan Feuer, The New York Times, September 10, 2005.
Locking up the sick
By R. Scott Rappold, The Colorado Springs Gazette, August 28, 2005.
When treatment suffers, it shows
By Steve Twedt, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 7, 2005.
County jail escapes feds' eye
By James M. O'Neil, Dallas Morning News, July 24, 2005.
$40 million boon for mental health producing turmoil
By Gig Conaughton, North County Times (San Diego), July 24, 2005.
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| Law Enforcement |
TennCare turns jail into ward
By Judith R. Tackett, The Nashville City Paper, September 16, 2005.
Locking up the sick
By R. Scott Rappold, The Colorado Springs Gazette, August 28, 2005.
When treatment suffers, it shows
By Steve Twedt, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 7, 2005.
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| Courts |
Marin court focuses on mentally ill
By Nancy Isles Nation, Marin Independent Journal, September 19, 2005.
TennCare turns jail into ward
By Judith R. Tackett, The Nashville City Paper, September 16, 2005.
Locking up the sick
By R. Scott Rappold, The Colorado Springs Gazette, August 28, 2005.
Mental court nets stable results: Only 1 of 35 guilty of new felony in year
By Jeff Coen, Chicago Tribune, August 17, 2005.
When treatment suffers, it shows
By Steve Twedt, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 7, 2005.
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| Corrections |
Success, setbacks in jail diversion
By Tom Davis, The Herald News/The Record, September 19, 2005.
TennCare turns jail into ward
By Judith R. Tackett, The Nashville City Paper, September 16, 2005.
Special 'psych' jails planned
By Carol Marbin Miller and Ashley Fantz, The Miami Herald, September 11, 2005.
Locking up the sick
By R. Scott Rappold, The Colorado Springs Gazette, August 28, 2005.
Union Raises Issues At Prison Again
By Diane Struzzi, Hartford Courant, August 18, 2005.
When treatment suffers, it shows
By Steve Twedt, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 7, 2005.
Teen Hangs Self In Cell
By Josh Kovner, Hartford Courant, July 25, 2005.
County jail escapes feds' eye
By James M. O'Neil, Dallas Morning News, July 24, 2005.
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| Victim Services and Advocacy |
TennCare turns jail into ward
By Judith R. Tackett, The Nashville City Paper, September 16, 2005.
People With Mental Illness More Often Crime Victims
By Aaron Levin, Psychiatric News, September 2, 2005.
Locking up the sick
By R. Scott Rappold, The Colorado Springs Gazette, August 28, 2005.
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