Bronx Community Solutions Mental Health Initiative

The Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP) seeks to increase public safety through an innovative, cross-system, collaborative response to individuals with mental illness who come in contact with the criminal or juvenile justice systems. This program is funded through Public Law 111-8 (Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2009). 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 processed 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.

New York City Office of the Criminal Justice Coordinator will use Category II (Planning and Implementation Grants) Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program funds to implement the Bronx Community Solutions Mental Health Initiative. New York City Office of the Criminal Justice Coordinator and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, in collaboration with mental health agencies in New York City and State and the Center for Court Innovation, will provide hundreds of mentally-ill misdemeanants and those with co-occurring disorders with treatment and transitional services. This initiative will test the extent to which a large number of offenders with serious mental health problems can be encouraged to voluntarily seek long-term services when there is limited legal leverage available to compel them to seek treatment. The project will provide the courts of the Bronx criminal division with the tools to provide 12,000 misdemeanants coming through the court with post-disposition screening for mental illness. Participants who are identified as having potential mental health issues will receive assessment, counseling, treatment readiness classes, and case management combined with links to services for voluntary engagement.

CA/NCF