NCJ Number
250645
Date Published
February 2017
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This report reviews program accomplishments of grantees under the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP), which was established in accordance with the provisions of the Federal 2004 Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act, which was enacted to facilitate collaboration among the criminal justice and mental health and substance-use disorder treatment systems.
Abstract
The U.S. Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) has funded four separate categories of JMHCP since October 2011. The first three types of grants include Planning, Planning and Implementation, and Expansion; however, BJA stopped making Planning grants in 2013, and it implemented a new category called Collaborative County Approaches to Reducing the Prevalence of Individuals with Mental Disorders in Jail. From 2012 through the end of 2015, JMHCP grantees have provided services for training, employment, education, housing, and treatment services for mental health, substance use, and co-occurring disorders to 64,185 participants through referrals and direct services; however, the provision of services is only the first step in addressing these needs. Further reforms are required to divert them from the criminal justice system and/or to minimize their involvement with the criminal justice system when appropriate. New cohorts of JMHCP grantees are establishing system-wide reforms at the county level in order to achieve these objectives. The services, reforms, research, and training have contributed to public safety by effectively diverting and reintegrating program participants into their communities. 6 figures