Vermont Integrated System of Care

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.

The Judicial Courts of the State of Vermont proposes to use their FY 09 Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (Planning & Implementation Grant) to build on the strategic plan of the Vermont Chief Justice Task Force on Criminal and Mental Health Collaboration, the project will utilize the Sequential Intercept Model as a framework for developing a local implementation plan that addresses the following elements: map community resources along each intercept point, identify system gaps and needs at each point including, diversion strategies, workforce training, develop local strategies and a time line for filling these gaps and addressing identified needs, and assess the impact of system development activities upon the criminal justice diversion and recidivism of persons with mental illness or co-occurring disorders. Additionally, the project's primary goal is to increase the number of adults with mental illness and co-occurring disorders who are diverted from the Criminal Justice (CJ) system, looking at the resources through the lens of the Sequential Intercept Model, and prevent their recidivism through increased access to diversion strategies and a CJ-capable system of services and supports.

CA/NCF