Mental Health Court

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 Kalamazoo Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Service will use the 2008 Justice and Mental Health Collaboration funds to increase public safety in Kalamazoo County, and increase treatment engagement in specialty mental health and substance abuse services. This will be done by reducing recidivism of the mentally ill in the criminal justice system, increasing the number of criminal justice personnel trained in or using law enforcement-based diversion strategies, and increasing the court-based diversion programs and alternative jail diversion strategies.

CA/NCF