Feature
2011 Year in Review
With 2011 now behind us, the Council of State Governments Justice Center would like to take this opportunity to thank our readers. Your committed and selfless work on the front lines of the criminal justice and mental health systems has helped make communities safer and improve health outcomes for people with mental illnesses in American’s jails, prisons, courts, and on the streets. We’d also like to thank our partners at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), who make the work of the Justice Center’s Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project possible.
2011 was another busy year for the Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project, with the launch of several new national initiatives. We commenced a partnership with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office, the city's Department of Correction and Department of Mental Health and Hygiene, and other high-ranking city and state officials to help improve the city’s response to people with mental illnesses in jails and under community supervision. With support from BJA and the Jacob and Valeria Langeloth Foundation, Justice Center researchers are analyzing citywide criminal justice and health data in order to recommend policies that connect people with mental illnesses to treatment, reduce corrections spending, and improve public safety. The initiative expands on an earlier data analysis project coordinated by our Consensus Project in Hillsborough County, NH.
Earlier in the year, BJA and the Justice Center’s Consensus Project announced that six law enforcement agencies — the Houston (TX) Police Department, Los Angeles (CA) Police Department, Madison (WI) Police Department, Portland (ME) Police Department, Salt Lake City (UT) Police Department, and University of Florida Police Department — will serve as national “learning sites” on improving responses to people with mental illnesses. These six agencies join five mental health court learning sites, identified by the Justice Center and BJA in 2006
In summer 2011, our Consensus Project identified four jurisdictions to serve as “pilot sites” for a forthcoming curriculum for practitioners interested in developing mental health courts. Stakeholders from the pilot jurisdictions — Polk County, IA; Jefferson County, WA; and the states of Colorado and Delaware — will use an advance version of the course, which includes online presentations and group activities, and participate in focus groups to help authors finalize it for broad release. Justice Center staff are visiting these pilot sites in early 2012, and will use stakeholders’ feedback to develop the final version of the curriculum, which will be available for free online in spring 2012.
Throughout 2011, Justice Center staff continued to provide technical assistance to Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP) grantees. Staff coordinated on-site technical assistance for over 20 grantees across the country. In February, the Justice Center and BJA convened JMHCP grantees (as well as practitioners from jurisdictions that applied for but did not receive JMHCP funding) for a two-day training and technical assistance event in Baltimore, MD. Nearly 400 representatives from state and local governments and community-based programs attended the event; materials, including videos, handouts, and an annotated agenda were posted online shortly afterwards.
The Justice Center also provided training and technical assistance through regular webinars—each of which are now archived online on the Consensus Project website. National experts presented on how to respond to a high-profile tragic incident involving a person with a serious mental illness, the importance of juvenile risk/needs assessment, specialized policing response programs, and the relationship between child trauma and juvenile justice. The Consensus Project team is currently planning its slate of 2012 webinars, each of which will be announced via this list serv in advance of the event.
In May 2011, our staff coordinated a training event for Illinois judges on mental illnesses in the courtroom. The training was a project of the Judges’ Criminal Justice/Mental Health Leadership Initiative (JLI), which is staffed by the Justice Center and guided by experts from the National Center for State Courts, the National Judicial College, and Policy Research Associates. The JLI partnered with the American Psychiatric Foundation and a newly convened Psychiatric Leadership Group for Criminal Justice to develop and administer a new training module, which was piloted for 60 Illinois judges, with coordination support from the Administrative Office of Illinois Courts.
In the course of the year, the Justice Center released numerous publications on a range of issues at the intersection of criminal justice and mental health, including "The Implications of Federal Health Legislation on Justice-Involved Populations.” The resource examines how the health reform legislation expands these adults’ eligibility for Medicaid and what services will now be available to them, the requirements and exemptions specified by the legislation, and how Medicaid enrollment will take place. The Justice Center expanded on this topic with “Facilitating Medicaid Enrollment for People with Serious Mental Illnesses Leaving Jail or Prison: Key Questions for Policymakers Committed to Improving Health and Public Safety.” This brief provides guidance for elected officials and corrections and mental health directors to understand what percentage of the corrections population is eligible for Medicaid and SSI/SSDI, how to identify eligible individuals at intake to the facility, and when to begin the application process for benefits program.
Through its National Reentry Resource Center, the Justice Center developed several resources on mental health issues in the context of reentry. These included a FAQ on the behavioral health needs of people returning from prison and jail and a policy guide on transforming probation departments to focus on recidivism reduction. The Justice Center also initiated a new project through the release of a report on how school discipline relates to academic and juvenile justice outcomes.
The big news from BJA in 2011 was the announcement of FY2011 JMHCP grantees. As in past years, the selection process was highly competitive; BJA received 279 applications, only 40 of which were awarded due to limited funding. BJA also announced that it will fund its 2012 grantees out of the 2011 applicant pool.
Without your commitment on behalf of people with mental illnesses in the justice system, none of this work would have been possible. We thank you for your continued interest in the work of the Justice Center, the Consensus Project, and our partners. Have a safe and happy holiday season, and we’ll see you in 2012!
2011 was another busy year for the Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project, with the launch of several new national initiatives. We commenced a partnership with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office, the city's Department of Correction and Department of Mental Health and Hygiene, and other high-ranking city and state officials to help improve the city’s response to people with mental illnesses in jails and under community supervision. With support from BJA and the Jacob and Valeria Langeloth Foundation, Justice Center researchers are analyzing citywide criminal justice and health data in order to recommend policies that connect people with mental illnesses to treatment, reduce corrections spending, and improve public safety. The initiative expands on an earlier data analysis project coordinated by our Consensus Project in Hillsborough County, NH.
Earlier in the year, BJA and the Justice Center’s Consensus Project announced that six law enforcement agencies — the Houston (TX) Police Department, Los Angeles (CA) Police Department, Madison (WI) Police Department, Portland (ME) Police Department, Salt Lake City (UT) Police Department, and University of Florida Police Department — will serve as national “learning sites” on improving responses to people with mental illnesses. These six agencies join five mental health court learning sites, identified by the Justice Center and BJA in 2006
In summer 2011, our Consensus Project identified four jurisdictions to serve as “pilot sites” for a forthcoming curriculum for practitioners interested in developing mental health courts. Stakeholders from the pilot jurisdictions — Polk County, IA; Jefferson County, WA; and the states of Colorado and Delaware — will use an advance version of the course, which includes online presentations and group activities, and participate in focus groups to help authors finalize it for broad release. Justice Center staff are visiting these pilot sites in early 2012, and will use stakeholders’ feedback to develop the final version of the curriculum, which will be available for free online in spring 2012.
Throughout 2011, Justice Center staff continued to provide technical assistance to Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP) grantees. Staff coordinated on-site technical assistance for over 20 grantees across the country. In February, the Justice Center and BJA convened JMHCP grantees (as well as practitioners from jurisdictions that applied for but did not receive JMHCP funding) for a two-day training and technical assistance event in Baltimore, MD. Nearly 400 representatives from state and local governments and community-based programs attended the event; materials, including videos, handouts, and an annotated agenda were posted online shortly afterwards.
The Justice Center also provided training and technical assistance through regular webinars—each of which are now archived online on the Consensus Project website. National experts presented on how to respond to a high-profile tragic incident involving a person with a serious mental illness, the importance of juvenile risk/needs assessment, specialized policing response programs, and the relationship between child trauma and juvenile justice. The Consensus Project team is currently planning its slate of 2012 webinars, each of which will be announced via this list serv in advance of the event.
In May 2011, our staff coordinated a training event for Illinois judges on mental illnesses in the courtroom. The training was a project of the Judges’ Criminal Justice/Mental Health Leadership Initiative (JLI), which is staffed by the Justice Center and guided by experts from the National Center for State Courts, the National Judicial College, and Policy Research Associates. The JLI partnered with the American Psychiatric Foundation and a newly convened Psychiatric Leadership Group for Criminal Justice to develop and administer a new training module, which was piloted for 60 Illinois judges, with coordination support from the Administrative Office of Illinois Courts.
In the course of the year, the Justice Center released numerous publications on a range of issues at the intersection of criminal justice and mental health, including "The Implications of Federal Health Legislation on Justice-Involved Populations.” The resource examines how the health reform legislation expands these adults’ eligibility for Medicaid and what services will now be available to them, the requirements and exemptions specified by the legislation, and how Medicaid enrollment will take place. The Justice Center expanded on this topic with “Facilitating Medicaid Enrollment for People with Serious Mental Illnesses Leaving Jail or Prison: Key Questions for Policymakers Committed to Improving Health and Public Safety.” This brief provides guidance for elected officials and corrections and mental health directors to understand what percentage of the corrections population is eligible for Medicaid and SSI/SSDI, how to identify eligible individuals at intake to the facility, and when to begin the application process for benefits program.
Through its National Reentry Resource Center, the Justice Center developed several resources on mental health issues in the context of reentry. These included a FAQ on the behavioral health needs of people returning from prison and jail and a policy guide on transforming probation departments to focus on recidivism reduction. The Justice Center also initiated a new project through the release of a report on how school discipline relates to academic and juvenile justice outcomes.
The big news from BJA in 2011 was the announcement of FY2011 JMHCP grantees. As in past years, the selection process was highly competitive; BJA received 279 applications, only 40 of which were awarded due to limited funding. BJA also announced that it will fund its 2012 grantees out of the 2011 applicant pool.
Without your commitment on behalf of people with mental illnesses in the justice system, none of this work would have been possible. We thank you for your continued interest in the work of the Justice Center, the Consensus Project, and our partners. Have a safe and happy holiday season, and we’ll see you in 2012!