Award Information
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2008, $199,786)
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 city of Kansas City will utilize their Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (Implementation and Enhancement) grant to enhance and expand three existing Jackson County Mental Health Courts (JCMHC) to serve an additional 120 individuals with mental disorders. The purpose of the project is to effectively divert individuals with mental disorders away from the criminal justice system for the following reasons: increasing the number of individuals who receive and maintain the treatment they require; reducing the financial and systemic burden on the courts and jails created by the revolving door of untreated systems; and petty crimes and unnecessary incarceration of these individuals.
CA/NCF