Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP) is funded through the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-414), which was reauthorized in 2008 (Public Law 110-416). The primary purpose of JMHCP is 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 mental health and other treatment services for those individuals with mental illness or co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders. Jurisdictions are eligible to apply for planning, planning and implementation, or expansion funding through JMHCP.

St. Mary's County Circuit Court will use the JMHCP Planning and Implementation (Category II) award for $249,817 to focus on the unmet needs of adolescents with co-occurring disorders who are eligible for or currently utilizing the Juvenile Drug Courts in St. Mary's and Charles Counties. The project will expand services focused on stabilizing participants in a community-based recovery that reduces the risk of acute mental health or substance abuse episodes.

Goals include: (1) completion and implementation of planning process for a community-based, recovery-oriented system of care approach specific to the population, and inclusive of all stakeholders in the community, to include providers, court personnel and law enforcement; (2) expansion of staffing pattern and in-community treatment capacity to efficiently accelerate rapid mental health evaluation, development of recovery planning inclusive of mental health needs, and implementation of 1-1 interventions and group pro-social activities; (3) establishing a housing network for current and transitioning project participants inclusive of therapeutic foster care options and independent living support; and (4) initializing and promoting follow-up support for participants inclusive of the development of recovery support, peer-support and program alumni activities delivered by trained and supported community volunteers.

CA/NCF