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Introduction of federal agency partners and participating organizations

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This plenary session highlighted the importance of collaboration among different agencies and systems, and the significance of addressing people with mental illnesses in the criminal justice system even in times of highly constrained budgets. State leaders spoke about how their criminal justice and mental health systems have collaborated, why they felt it was imperative to do so, and how their states have benefited.

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This plenary session highlighted strategies for identifying an appropriate group of people to focus on for a collaborative criminal justice/mental health intervention. Dr. Fred Osher discussed not only how to identify the right target population for a particular jurisdiction, but also why this is important and how it can help make each jurisdiction’s programs more successful and sustainable.

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This panel, moderated by Andy McMahon, focused on the critical role of housing in ensuring positive outcomes for individuals with mental illnesses leaving jail or prison and the strategies for connecting individuals to supportive and other housing resources promptly after release. Mr. McMahon provided information about national efforts underway through the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) to study the impact of housing on criminal justice and public health outcomes for criminal justice- involved populations. Dr. Dan Bannish discussed a project through the Connecticut Department of Correction (CTDOC) to better connect parolees with serious mental illnesses to housing in the community. Richard Cho, also of CSH, is consulting with the CTDOC to perform a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the housing inventory, which will inform a strategic housing plan. Mr. Cho discussed the approach of this analysis and the preliminary findings.

This panel, moderated by Dr. Lee Underwood, explored the topic of cultural competency and addressed some of the difficulties communities often face when trying to be culturally sensitive toward their clients. Dr. Underwood briefly discussed his often- taught training on cultural miscues and cultural competency, and also presented on motivational enhancement training, which is meant to engage both staff and clients. William Brandshagen and Dr. James Kiffer discussed their experience tailoring the Guam mental health court to minority populations, and highlighted some of their challenges and successes.

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This panel, moderated by Dr. Erik Roskes explored how to implement validated mental health screening and assessment tools in criminal justice settings and how to effectively use information from these tools to best place individuals in programs and treatment. Lynette Tastad discussed experiences implementing the brief jail mental health screen in Cass County, North Dakota. Dr. Allison Upton provided an overview of how to use information from screens to inform the assessment process and ultimately to select appropriate participants for criminal justice/mental health programs. Finally, Dr. Roskes discussed implementing screening/assessment strategies in community corrections settings.

Dr. Fred Osher began with a brief overview of co-occurring disorders, providing context for understanding the challenges of working with this population. Judge Stephen Goss then discussed practical information about how these disorders affect people involved in the criminal justice system, and the barriers to linking this population to community services. Panelists facilitated a discussion with participants.

For more information on individuals with co-occurring disorders who are involved in the criminal justice system, please read the National GAINS Center publication, Creating Effective Treatment Programs for Persons with Co-Occurring Disorders in the Justice System

This panel explored the issues facing juveniles with mental illnesses involved in the criminal justice system. The speakers highlighted some of the interventions that can benefit this population and the challenges facing administrators and clinicians who implement them. Monica Saxby Parker discussed experiences implementing a juvenile diversion program in Douglas County, Georgia. Jeannie Von Stultz discussed her experiences starting a mental health court for juvenile females in Bexar County, Texas.

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This panel, moderated by John Petrila, explored the role of data collection and evaluation as a tool to better identify a target population for a criminal justice/mental health initiative. As an expert in data collection and analysis, Dr. Tony Fabelo provided information about how to use data at the outset of a program’s planning phase to better define the population the program will serve. Ann-Marie Louison provided examples from her collaborative program, highlighting their challenges and successes using data to define their target population.

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This panel, moderated by Dan Abreu, focused on veteran- specific interventions in the criminal justice system. This topic has come to the forefront in recent years and is becoming an increasingly relevant issue for many criminal justice/mental health initiatives. Judge Robert Russell discussed the program he is running in Buffalo, New York, and provided insight into how other communities can create their own veteran- specific programs. Tom Tarantino related his experience working with the peer community as well as the advocacy and legislative work he has done and how it can serve as a model for other communities. Mr. Abreu spoke about the work the National GAINS Center has done in this area and detailed the types of technical assistance available to jurisdictions interested in creating such programs. Sean Clark discussed the Department of Veterans Affairs’ current and pending efforts to address the needs of this population, including the Veterans Justice Outreach Program.

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Directors Roundtable: Directors of state criminal justice and mental health agencies were joined by Justice Department experts to discuss strategies for addressing the challenges of collaboration between systems.

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This plenary session outlined the strategies for, and goals of, developing criminal justice/mental health initiatives according to the sequential intercept model, from law enforcement interventions to court-based programs to corrections and community corrections programs.

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This panel discussed how federal and state confidentiality rules impact information sharing between criminal justice and mental health systems. Dr. Tony Fabelo and John Petrila discussed why these rules exist and how they function in a real world context, including common misconceptions about these laws. Dr. Fabelo and Mr. Petrila then explained how individuals from different systems can work together within the confines of privacy laws to promote information sharing and cross-system collaboration.

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This panel, moderated by Nancy Fishman, provided practical, effective ideas about how to integrate evidence-based employment strategies into criminal justice/mental health collaborations. Steve Fishbein provided an introduction to supported employment, the key evidence-based employment approach for people with mental illnesses, and discuss its application to justice- involved populations from the statewide perspective, building on his experience in New Jersey state government. Michelle Robison, representing a 2007 JMHCP grantee in Cobb County, Georgia, discussed their experience in building an employment component into their grant, which focused on self-employment strategies for individuals leaving jail.

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This panel, moderated by Terence McCormick, offered insight into the positive and unique role family members and consumers can play in the design and administration of criminal justice/mental health initiatives. Ron Honberg provided an overview of NAMI resources to help practitioners in the audience effectively engage family members and consumers. LaVerne Miller discussed a forensic peer advocacy model she spearheaded in New York City and how this could be adapted for other jurisdictions. Mr. McCormick, who has provided technical assistance to JMHCP grantees, highlighted major lessons learned about including family members and consumers in JMHCP projects, with specific examples of how to involve these individuals in evaluation efforts.

Slides

This panel, moderated by Seth Prins, provided an overview of the major themes and key principles of an effective community corrections response to individuals with mental illnesses. Each panelist presented ideas and examples from the past decade that have changed community corrections responses to people with mental illnesses into a system focused on evidence-based practices and improved outcomes for this population. Panelists fielded questions from session attendees and facilitate discussion about the group’s first- hand experiences with these issues.

Slides

This panel, moderated by Melissa Reuland, presented the 10 essential elements of specialized law enforcement responses to people with mental illnesses, outlined in a Justice Center publication. Officer Joan Logan and Jim Gilmore discussed challenges they encountered while planning and implementing a Crisis Intervention Team in Montgomery County, Maryland, as well as practical strategies they used to overcome them. Session attendees were encouraged to participate, providing information about their own experiences and asking questions of the panelists.

For more information, please read the Justice Center publication, Improving Responses to People with Mental Illnesses: The Essential Elements of a Specialized Law Enforcement-Based Program

This panel, moderated by Eric Olson, discussed the 10 essential elements of a mental health court and how these key design characteristics have been implemented in different program models. The panelists focused on several particularly complex elements including developing a target population; identifying potential participants and linking them to services; managing relationships between treatment providers and court practitioners, and within the court team itself; and monitoring adherence to court requirements through incentives and sanctions. Panelists also discussed evidence-based practices and encouraged session attendees to discuss successes and challenges they have experienced in implementing the essential elements.

For more information, please read the Justice Center Publication Improving Responses to People with Mental Illnesses: The Essential Elements of a Mental Health Court

This panel, moderated by Robert Kinscherff, explored some of the evidence-based interventions specifically designed for a juvenile population. Dr. Peter Greenwood described in detail these interventions and the importance of moving jurisdictions in the direction of research-directed practice. Mr. Kinscherff discussed the organizational challenges and components necessary to implement them. Lilas Rajaee- Moore described her jurisdiction’s experience with evidence-based practices, such as Functional Family Therapy and Seeking Safety.

This panel, moderated by Dan Abreu, focused on the role that trauma-informed care can play in a criminal justice/mental health initiative. Mr. Abreu highlighted some of the National GAINS Center‘s work on this issue, including trauma screening in jail diversion programs, and discussed some of the trauma-specific statistics researchers at the GAINS Center have calculated. Linda Sanford focused on how to address the needs of juveniles, touching on the issue of neglect, as well as treatment options and the related issue of brain development. Tonier Cain provided background on her own personal experience as a consumer and address the importance of self-help and social networks.

This panel, moderated by Timothy Murray, provided practical information on opportunities to use pre-trial diversion to improve outcomes for adults and juveniles with mental illnesses involved in the criminal justice system. Mr. Murray provided an overview of pre-trial diversion options for adults and information on integrating pre-trial programs into criminal justice/mental health initiatives. Bart Lubow discussed the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s groundbreaking Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) and its implications for juveniles with mental illnesses. Michelle Zechmann and Mark Stewart described their efforts to develop a jail diversion initiative in Durham, North Carolina.