BJA Announces 2007 MIOTCRA Grantees
The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs' Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) has named its 2007 grantees under its Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP), which was authorized by the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2004 (MIOTCRA).
The 2007 grantees span 26 communities in 16 states. Of these, 13 communities received planning grants with a maximum award of $50,000 for 12 months, seven received planning and implementation grants with a maximum award of $250,000 for 30 months, and six communities received implementation and expansion grants with a maximum award of $200,000 for 24 months. All grants required a joint application from a mental health agency and unit of government responsible for criminal and/or juvenile justice activities. View a pdf with the full list of 2007 grantees.
The Council of State Governments Justice Center's Criminal Justice / Mental Health Consensus Project, the Pretrial Justice Institute, and the National Association of Counties will provide technical assistance to the new grantees.
Through funds appropriated in FY 2006, the BJA awarded 27 grants in 19 states under the JMHCP. Read more about the 2006 grantees on the Criminal Justice/Mental Health InfoNet.
Key congressional supporters of the grant program are working closely with colleagues to ensure continued funding for the program in FY 2008. Over the summer, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its FY 2008 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill, which reserved $10 million for the program. The Senate Appropriations Committee also reserved $10 million in its FY 2008 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill.
For more information on outreach efforts to Congress in support of the program, please contact Sara Paterni.
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New Study Finds Mental Health Court Reduces Recidivism and Violence
A new study has found that use of the San Francisco Behavioral Health Court (BHC) can reduce the risk of recidivism and violence by people with mental illnesses involved with the criminal justice system. Recently published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, the study retroactively compared the occurrence of new criminal charges for 170 BHC participants with 8,067 adults with mental illnesses booked into the county jail during the same period.
After compensating for selection bias, demographics, prior charges and clinical diagnoses, researchers concluded that participation in the BHC resulted in longer time without any new charges. BHC participants had approximately a 26 percent lower risk of new criminal charges and a 55 percent lower risk for violent crimes than the group of comparable individuals. The study also found that these positive results extended beyond a participant's involvement with the mental health court; eighteen months after graduation, the BHC group had an estimated 39 percent lower risk of being arrested for a new offense and 54 percent lower risk for a violent crime than the control group.
These findings represent an important step in testing empirically the impact of mental health courts. Although the Justice Center estimates that well over 150 mental health courts are in operation across the country, few studies have evaluated the effect of these programs on participants' recidivism rates. Therefore, the fact that involvement in the BHC lowers its participants' risk of new offenses and, more importantly, that this trend extends beyond involvement in the program itself, is very encouraging for mental health courts across the country.
To read more about the study, click here. View a profile of the San Francisco Behavioral Health Court on the InfoNet.
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Announcements
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Criminal Justice and Mental Health in the News
Articles from newspapers around the country covering issues at the intersection of mental health and criminal justice can be found on the Criminal Justice / Mental Health InfoNet website. Some recent headlines from the Consensus Project homepage are posted below.
The Washington Post (DC) - Senate passes Mental Health Parity bill
9/18/07 - The Senate unanimously approved the Mental Health Parity bill, which requires health insurers to provide equal benefits for mental and physical ailments. The House is expected to vote on a similar version of the bill later this year.
Sioux City Journal (IA) - Intervention team proposed to help with mentally ill
9/18/07 - "Community leaders are considering forming a team of law enforcement officers, mental health providers and others to respond to situations involving mentally ill people."
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA) - A lonely end to a life of madness: Violent, delusional teen was supposed to be in a hospital but died in jail
9/16/07 - "Hazeltons death illustrates the defects in Georgias forensic mental health system, according to an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution."
Fairborn Daily Herald (CT) - Fairborn police train for crisis intervention
9/12/07 - "The Fairborn Police Department will be receiving some new training within the next two weeks, and the citys mentally ill will likely benefit from the effort."
The Gazette (CO) - Police grant may keep mentally ill out of jail
9/11/07 - "A grant awarded to the Colorado Springs Police Department recently will help start a pilot program intended to get the mentally ill treatment instead of time in jail."
The Columbus Dispatch (OH) - Most inmates mentally ill, but treatment can be sparse
9/9/07 - "Seven of every 10 youths sent to Ohios juvenile prisons have been diagnosed with a mental illness and are supposed to get treatment while theyre locked up. But for many, help never comes."
Athens Banner-Herald (GA) - Special court for mentally ill in works
9/9/07 - "Last month, the county received a $45,000 start-up grant from the U.S. Justice Department for a Treatment and Accountability Court that could begin diverting mentally ill prisoners from jail to treatment programs early next year."
Tallahassee Democrat (FL) - Judge: Mental-health cuts a big mistake
9/8/07 - "When you force people out of the mental health system, you force them into the criminal justice system."
Newsday (CT) - Lawmakers suggest reforms in wake of Cheshire killings
9/6/07 - "Democratic legislators proposed replacing the entire part-time Board of Pardons and Paroles with full-time members with expertise in criminal justice, mental health and other relevant areas."
KHOU News (TX) - HPD examines officer dispatch policy
8/30/07 - Houston City Council Member Adrian Garcia suggests including mental health counselors as primary responders to situations involving people with mental illnesses.
Time - De-criminalizing mental illness
8/8/07 - "Misconceptions are especially dangerous when theyre held by police, who are often forced to make split-second, life-or-death decisions about mentally ill suspects."
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