AIIM Higher San Francisco

The Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP) seeks to increase public safety through an innovative, cross-system collaborative response for individuals with mental illness who come in contact with the criminal or juvenile justice systems. This program is funded through the Public Law 110-161 (Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008) and is authorized through Public Law 108-414 (Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act, 2004). 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 will encourage early intervention for 'system-involved' individuals with mental illness; provide new and existing mental health courts with various treatment options; maximize diversion opportunities for non-violent offenders with mental illness and co-occurring disorders; promote training for justice and treatment professionals on criminal justice processes and mental health and substance abuse issues; and facilitate communication, collaboration, and the delivery of support services among justice professionals, treatment and related service providers, and governmental partners.

The San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) in conjunction with the San Francisco Juvenile Probation Department (SFJPD) will use its FY 2008 Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program, Category II Implementation and Expansion grant, to implement a program called AIIM Higher (Assess, Identify Needs, Integrate Information, and Match to Services) that will be designed to more effectively identify youth with mental health needs and link them to appropriate services. The program will address the following identified needs: 1) informal and unsystematic assessment; 2) inconsistent information sharing among agencies; 3) lack of systematic process for dispositions; 4) inadequate use of best practices to address youths' needs; and 5) difficulty determining whether youth are receiving the right intensity of care. AIIM Higher will serve 400 youth with moderate to serious risks and mental health issues, and those detained for more than 72 hours. The program will be administered to youth housed at the San Francisco Juvenile Justice Center and the Log Cabin Ranch located in rural La Honda, which is a longer-term residential detention facility. SFJPD and SFDPH will work together with other community-based partners to implement the components of AIIM Higher.

CA/NCF