Justice and Mental Health Court

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.

Oregon Criminal Justice Commission will use Category II (Planning and Implementation Grants) Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program funds to support the implementation of a Mental Health Court. The proposed project will span approximately 30 months. The Oregon Criminal Justice Commission will be implementing the plan that was developed with a previous Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program grant. The implementation phase will build on the planning process outcomes. The overall goals of the implementation phase are to improve systems collaboration between community corrections and the mental health systems, address the needs of individuals with mental illness and reduce recidivism, and promote positive outcomes for offenders with mental illness.

CA/NCF