The goals, development, and administration of a training program will vary considerably depending upon the audience.  Across the criminal justice and mental health systems there are numerous discrete training audiences - police officers, corrections officers, prosecutors, community members, mental health practitioners, and many more.  Even within the distinct parts of the criminal justice system, such as the court, training audiences, and thus goals, will differ; training programs for public defenders, prosecutors, and judges will all be unique.

Training is such a cornerstone for most criminal justice organizations that these agencies typically have an individual - or sometimes an entire division - responsible for administering the training programs within the agency.  Although these officials will play a key role in implementing the recommendations described below, it is important that they tap the expertise of mental health experts to develop training curricula that deals with mental illness.  Similarly, officials responsible for training mental health practitioners will need to reach out to criminal justice professionals when preparing training materials regarding the operation of the criminal justice system and the delivery of services to people who have been involved with the criminal justice system.

Recommendations:

a.

Identify the training audience.

b.

Develop a training committee or task force to focus on the issue of people who have mental illness and are involved in the criminal justice system or at high risk for such involvement.

c.

Determine training goals and objectives.

d.

Evaluate existing training materials, identify gaps in the curricula, and tap available resources to address these gaps.