After outlining the objectives of the federal Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP), this fact sheet describes grant award categories and examples of grantees; how JMHCP can assist states, local governments, and Indian tribes; and JMHCP partners and their roles.
JMHCP provides grants and technical assistance to states, local governments, and federally recognized Indian tribes for the purpose of facilitating the cooperation of mental health agencies and criminal justice agencies in addressing offenders' mental health needs. Under JMHCP grants, projects must be jointly administered by a criminal or juvenile justice agency and a mental health agency. In FY 2017, JMHCP ensured that 54 percent of mental health calls for service were addressed by an officer trained to address mental health issues; and 5,436 new participants were served by JMHCP grantees from October 2016 to September 2017. A total of 18,062 people were diverted from the criminal justice system into the appropriate mental health treatment/diversion programs. Partners included in JMHCP programming include criminal justice agencies, mental health agencies, policymakers, and researchers. Responsibilities assumed by each of these partners under the JMHCP model are outlined.