April 2010 CP Newsletter
May 04 May Webinar: Working with Data for Mental Health Court Practitioners
The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center is pleased to announce its third webinar in the 2010 Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program Webinar Series, sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Assistance: Working with Data for Mental Health Court Practitioners.
Washtenaw, Mich., Grantee Uses JMHCP Expansion Funds to Improve Trauma Services
Four years ago Mary* was sexually assaulted. After this incident, daily living became difficult. Mary engaged in substance use, had no home, and no steady employment. Mary began experiencing trauma-related symptoms, including being fearful of any new surroundings and feared the company of new people. On the one-year anniversary of the sexual assault, Mary attempted suicide. On the second-year anniversary, Mary was detained by police for drunken and disorderly conduct. The police officers, noting her inebriated state, attempted to take her to a treatment facility. Unbeknownst to the officers, they had brought her to the very medical facility where she had been sexually assaulted two years prior, and upon arriving, Mary resisted arrest and was charged with assault.
After arrest and during her jail stay, Mary became involved in a therapeutic trauma group operated by the Washtenaw, Mich., Justice Project Outreach Team (JPORT), a current Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP) expansion grantee. JPORT is using its funding to enhance the trauma-informed care that they offer their clients in the jail and through their transition to either community corrections or the community. As a result of JPORT’s therapeutic trauma groups, Mary’s trauma symptoms subsided, so that on the third anniversary of her sexual assault, Mary was living independently and had stopped using drugs. To celebrate her new-found independence, she took a trip to Florida to relax at a self-help retreat.
JPORT provides a team-based continuum of services from diversion to community re-entry. With their current expansion grant, they are working to expand trauma services to both people within the jail and those under community supervision. A summary of some of their grant activities follows.
New Justice Center Publication Available on October 7, 2010: Information Sharing in Criminal Justice-Mental Health Collaborations: Working with HIPAA and Other Privacy Laws
Understanding the legal framework of information sharing is the crucial first step for jurisdictions seeking to design and implement effective criminal justice-mental health collaborations. This guide supports that first step by introducing how federal and state laws are likely to influence practitioners’ responses. To understand how federal law shapes what is permissible at the state or local level, practitioners should understand the legal framework of the basic privacy rules for “protected health information” under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and substance abuse treatment information under 42 CFR Part 2, a portion of the Code of Federal Regulations addressing public health.