Spotlight on JMHCP: San Francisco

Each month the Justice Center spotlights collaborative criminal justice/mental health initiatives that have received funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance's Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP). Center staff asks the practitioners in these programs to discuss some successes and challenges they have encountered in the planning and implementation process. This month's profile is from San Francisco, a 2008 JMHCP Implementation and Expansion Grantee.

Program Summary

San Francisco AIIM (Assess, Identify Needs, Integrate Information, and Match to Services) Higher is a partnership between the San Francisco Juvenile Probation Department and the Department of Public Health’s Child, Youth and Family System of Care. SF AIIM Higher is a program that offers data-driven assessment, planning, and linkage services that engage juvenile justice-involved youth and their families in targeted and effective community-based interventions.

Dougherty Superior Court Mental Health/Substance Abuse Treatment Court Program Wins Special Merit Award for Improving the Lives of Families

During the Rosalynn Carter Institute Awards Gala, held October 22, the Johnson & Johnson/Rosalynn Carter Institute Caregivers Program presented a special merit award to the Dougherty Superior Court Mental Health/Substance Abuse Treatment Court Program, a Bureau of Justice Assistance mental health court learning site. This program, which represents an innovative partnership among the Dougherty County Court System, the Albany Advocacy Resource Center, the Albany Area Community Service Board, Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, works to decrease or eliminate the number of hospitalizations, crisis unit admissions, or arrests experienced by people suffering from mental illness or substance abuse. Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter presented Judge Stephen Goss with a check in the amount of $5,000.

Senate Approves $64 Million for Reentry Programs for FY 2010

On Thursday, November 5, 2009, the U.S. Senate approved an appropriations bill for the Department of Justice for fiscal year 2010 (H.R. 2847) that provides $64 million for prisoner reentry, including $50 million for Second Chance Act programs and $14 million for reentry initiatives in the federal Bureau of Prisons. The version of the bill that passed the House of Representatives in June provides $114 million for prisoner reentry, including $100 million for Second Chance Act programs. The Senate appropriations bill also provides $10 million for the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act (MIOTCRA), whereas the House version provides $12 million. A conference committee including members of the House and Senate Appropriations committees will meet to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill.

The Daily Journal (NJ): Policy helps cops deal with mentally ill

11/10/09: "Earlier this year, the Vineland Police Department adopted a policy aimed at improving the way its officers interact with people who have mental illnesses."

My Fox Houston (TX): HPD helps protect mentally ill

11/5/09: "A mental illness can cause someone to act irrationally and even cause them to be a danger to themselves or others. Houston officers are undergoing special training in Houston to learn how to de-escalate a dangerous situation and they're realizing compassion can go along way."

KPVI News 6 (ID): Officers Train for Crisis Intervention

11/5/09: "Law enforcement officers respond to many tense situations. But when those situations involve someone with mental illnesses, the situations can become dangerous for everyone involved."

Big Sky Business Journal (MT): Mental health treatment better than jail

11/5/09: "A staggering number of individuals who pass through the justice system shouldn’t be there. Many would be better dealt with by providing mental health treatment. This fact is becoming broadly accepted and is advancing as the justice system’s top priority issue."

Ocala.com (FL): County considers program for jail diversion

11/4/09: "Lee County considers expanding the 'Triage Center' for individuals with mental illnesses who come into contact with the criminal justice system. Within two years, current programs have led to a reduction in jail time by 32 percent and low-level offenses by 25 percent, and saved the county close to $200,000."

Desoto Times Tribune (MS): Jail no place for the mentally ill

11/4/09: "Mississippi Law allows for individuals with mental illnesses to be jailed simply if they pose a threat to themselves or others. Policy makers and corrections officials are looking for solutions to divert this population away from jails and into proper treatment."

Mansfield News Journal (OH): Seven graduate from Mansfield mental health court

11/3/09: "The Mansfield Mental health court attempts to divert individuals with mental illnesses in contact with the criminal justice system from jail and increase their participation in treatment."

Montgomery County Courier (TX): New mental health program aimed at helping juveniles

11/2/09: "With around 40 percent of juveniles who are incarcerated in Montgomery County on some sort of psychotropic medication, officials believe a new mental health diversion program will get these individuals help they need."

Journal Courier (IN): Judge, Purdue professor take on problem-solving courts in book

11/2/09: "New book discusses Tippecanoe County's successes and failures in helping formerly incarcerated individuals better transition into the community."