Award Information
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2007, $250,000)
The Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP) seeks to increase public safety through innovative cross-system collaboration for individuals with mental illness who come into contact with the criminal or juvenile justice systems. This program is funded through the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2004 (MIOTCRA) (Public Law 108-414). The program is designed to increase public safety by facilitating collaboration among the criminal justice, juvenile justice, and mental health and substance abuse treatment systems to increase access to services for offenders with mental illness. Activities under this initiative encourage early intervention for 'system-involved' individuals with mental illness; provides new and existing mental health courts with various treatment options; maximizes diversion opportunities for nonviolent offenders with mental illness and co-occurring disorders; promotes training for justice and treatment professionals on criminal justice processes and mental health and substance abuse issues; and facilitates communication, collaboration, and the delivery of support services among justice professionals, treatment and related service providers, and governmental partners.
Kennebec County will use their 2007 JMHCP Grant to plan and implement the Kennebec County Jail Diversion Project, a comprehensive approach to diverting people with mental illness and co-occurring disorders away from the criminal justice system while ensuring public safety. This collaboration will effectively weave existing diversion efforts, to include police, crisis services, jail services, courts, and the community, into a more cohesive whole, based on two assumptions: a) jail diversion must occur at all intercept points in the legal system, and b) full community involvement is essential for diversion success. Kennebec County will allocate a majority of the grant award to project staff, provided by the County's contracted mental health provider, Crisis & Counseling Centers. The work facilitated by this award is an expansion of the work Crisis & Counseling Centers is currently doing in partnership with the Kennebec County Correctional Facility, to improve inmate care and to reduce recidivism.
CA/NCF