Criminal and Juvenile Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program

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.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (CMDMH) will use the Category III Expansion Grant to support the Criminal and Juvenile Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program. CMDMH, in collaboration with Department of Correction (DOC), Department of Public Health (DPH), and the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS), will expand reentry services. The project goals are to: convene an advisory committee to include representatives from state criminal justice, mental health, substance abuse, advocacy groups, consumers, provider organizations, and researchers with interests in the unique reentry needs of female offenders; apply an existing evidence based service intervention model toward women with psychiatric disorders and legal involvement; conduct training for mental health and criminal justice personnel; conduct a pilot with non-violent female offenders in specified area and evaluate recidivism reduction effectiveness; and ensure the use of a collaborative approach when conducting the evaluation.

CA/NCF