Mental Health Services Vehicle

The Kings County District Attorney’s Office (KCDA) will identify a single partner through a competitive selection process to provide mobile mental health and wrap-around services to individuals impacted by criminal justice system, with a key focus on individuals released to the community following arraignment.  This “Community Reentry and Support Project” (CRSP) will include clinical medical staff stationed in a mobile van parked nearby the Brooklyn Criminal Court at 120 Schermerhorn Street, along with a team of peer specialists stationed in the court room as well as the van, who will work to engage and build rapport with clients before they leave the courthouse.  Peers will escort clients down to the van, where the Psychiatric Nurse and support staff will greet them and conduct a full intake session, provide treatment, medication management and referrals to additional support services. CRSP staff will also collaborate directly with KCDA and other court-based staff to ensure strong identification and referral of clients in need. 

This van-based unit will be available 7 days a week and ensure rapid, seamless bridging of the transition from court to community, with a focus on ensuring people released from arraignments and the court—including people experiencing street homelessness, crisis and instability, and mental illness and/or substance use needs—have a strong connection to services directly upon release from court. The CRSP team features psychiatric, nursing, and peer expertise and will have capacity to provide rapid engagement treatment services available from 11 AM - 10 pm outside the courthouse 7 days a week.

KCDA will partner with John Jay College of Criminal Justice’s From Punishment to Public Health (P2PH) team to enhance strategic planning, project implementation and evaluation activities.  P2PH will support the CRSP project by facilitating several planning meetings to bring key stakeholders together to flesh out the logistics and communications plans for launching CRSP in a timely fashion.  P2PH will also assist in the evaluation design and data collection and reporting activities.