In the face of stigmatizing attitudes, increased efforts by law enforcement officials, judges, prosecutors, and corrections administrators to understand and address the causes for their increased contact with individuals with mental illness hold the potential to increase awareness of the costs borne by society when appropriate mental health services are not delivered. By highlighting the burdens placed on their systems by people overlooked or underserved by the public mental health system, members of the criminal justice system have an unprecedented opportunity to help shape public opinion and public policy. Increased public awareness of the inefficiency stemming from the current allocation of resources will help to create the political will necessary to direct resources toward development and maintenance of comprehensive, high-quality public mental health programs.  Improvement in public mental health programs will result not only in fewer criminal justice contacts by people with mental illness but, more basically, in more opportunities for people with mental illness to participate fully in society. (See Policy Statement 32: Educating the Community and Building Community Awareness.)