Justice & Mental Health Collaboration Program

• NCJ Number: 254461
• Date Published: December 2019
• Length: 2 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2016-MU-BX-K003
• Agencies: BJA
• Publication Type: Report (Technical Assistance); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Description; Grants and Funding; Factsheet

Annotation

After describing the features of the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP) administered by the U.S. Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), this report presents statistics on the number and amounts of JMHCP grants since 2006, and briefly describes JMHCP projects.

Abstract

The JMHCP promotes innovative cross-system collaboration and provides grants directly to states, local governments, and federally recognized Indian tribes. Its goal is to improve responses to people with mental illnesses who are involved in the criminal justice system. JMHCP funding requires collaboration with a mental health agency. Since 2006, 482 JMHCP grants have been awarded across 49 states and the District of Columbia, as well as two U.S. Territories. A total of $121.87 million has been awarded, with individual awards ranging from $10,000 to $750,000. Law enforcement agencies (n=116) have used JMHCP funding to establish police-mental health collaboration models to reduce encounters with people who have mental illnesses and refer them to mental health services. Under the JMHCP, law enforcement agencies can request no-cost technical assistance in designing or implementing models of police and mental health services collaboration. A chart describes the features, rationale, and an example site for each of five models of collaboration between criminal justice and mental health agencies.