St. Louis County, Minnesota Cross-Agency Behavioral Health Jail Team

Proposal Abstract 
BJA COSSAP 2022 Grant Application: O-BJA-022-171280, Category 1B 
The St. Louis County, MN Cross-Agency Behavioral Health Jail Team 

Purpose. The purpose of this proposed project is to provide wrap around care for people with substance use disorders transitioning through the criminal justice system in St. Louis County (SLC), MN, as well as recovery and behavioral health counseling at NERCC. 

Primary Activities. As a local applicant, medium sized county (Category 1b), SLC is working on the following allowable uses: Naloxone for law enforcement and first responders. Proposed activities include providing a ready source of Naloxone for SLC rural law enforcement, provide Naloxone and training to probation officers, and send Naloxone with people with Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) when released from jail. Post-booking treatment alternative-to-incarceration programs. Individuals screened and flagged at jail booking at SLC Jail with possible behavioral health disorders will be referred to a jail Administrative Sergeant and Probation Officer Liaison who will work with the pre-trial arraignment courts for pre-booking diversion to probation, NERCC, treatment courts, or treatment if appropriate. Evidence-based SUD treatment, harm reduction activities and recovery support services. MAT (both induction and continuation of previous prescriptions) is provided in SLC Jail and NERCC. This project will create an internal multi-disciplinary coordinating body within the jail, based on the forensic assertive community team model. This Jail Team will work with flagged inmates to create in-jail and transitional treatment plan, ensuring access to and continuation of services for people with SUDs, co-occurring mental health disorders and SUDs, and polysubstance use disorder. Embedding social workers, peers, and/or persons with lived experience at any intercept of the Sequential Intercept Model. This grant will support embedding behavioral health specialists (providing drug counseling and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)) and a peer recovery specialist providing recovery services and All Recovery Meetings in the jail and NERCC. 

The Expected Outcomes for this project include enhanced access to coordination of care for justice-involved individuals across all intercepts in SLC, increased post booking diversions, increased access to behavioral health and recovery services in the jail, and creation of a jail system that consistently begins a release and transition plan creation process for people with SUDs at booking. 

Service Area. The project serves SLC, the largest county geographically in MN covering 7,092 square miles 37% of which is rural, with a population of 199,070. It also serves justice involved individuals served by Arrowhead Regional Corrections- ARC (St. Louis, Carlton, Cook, Koochiching, and Lake Counties) 

Intended beneficiaries and subrecipients. This project will benefit justice involved individuals suffering from SUDs in SLC and the broader Arrowhead Region. Subrecipients of the grant include ARC’s probation program; Center for Alcohol and Drug Treatment, the regional in-patient treatment center; and Recovery Alliance Duluth, a recovery community organization. 

Priority Consideration 1A. This applicant claims Priority Consideration 1A. Documented plan can be seen on p16. of the Project Narrative. A recent Sequential Intercept Mapping of the County identified racial equity as a priority. The external multi-disciplinary body is currently working on creating a strategic plan to address.