U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

Planning and Implementing Two Key Elements of County's Preliminary Strategic Plan to Address Criminal Justice, Mental Health and Substance Abuse

Award Information

Award #
2009-MO-BX-0035
Location
Awardee County
Palm Beach
Congressional District
Status
Closed
Funding First Awarded
2009
Total funding (to date)
$249,942

Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2009, $249,942)

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.

Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners will use Category II (Planning and Implementation Grants) Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program funds to implement two strategic plan strategies related to addressing criminal justice, mental health, and substance abuse. The primary goals are to implement strategies related to the need for transitional case management 30-60 days following jail release or diversion; and expand the traditional Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) and increase the number of people receiving training. The key deliverables will be provision of transition case management services to dually diagnose persons with a history of recidivism; train additional law enforcement personnel in CIT; assess training needs for behavioral health specialists; evaluate CIT implementation practices levels in the field; and reduce the recidivism rate for the target population.

CA/NCF

Date Created: September 15, 2009