Community Support Programs Branch
Partnerships
The Community Support Programs (CSP) Branch collaborates with a variety partners to support the following criminal justice and mental health initiatives:
Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act (MIOTCRA) of 2004
A number of Federal agencies have responded to the call for greater collaboration at the Federal level described in the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act (MIOTCRA) of 2004. The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), the National Institute of Corrections (NIC), and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) are among the federal participants. This collaborative effort is being facilitated by the Council of State Governments (CSG), the National GAINS Center for Systemic Change for Justice-Involved Persons with Mental Illness, and the Technical Assistance and Policy Analysis Center for Jail Diversion. All partners have agreed to plan, coordinate, and share the design and implementation of efforts that will improve the response to people with mental illness involved with the criminal justice.
Among a number of collaborative efforts, the group is compiling an inventory of current activities specifically oriented to persons with mental illness involved in the justice system. The inventory will be analyzed to identify gaps, redundancies, and opportunities for collaboration.
One exciting result of this collaboration has been the funding of a MIOTCRA grant program. The CSG, which is receiving funds through the MIOTCRA grant program, will collaborate with the GAINS and TAPA centers to provide technical assistance to the MIOTCRA grantees. In Spring 2006, the CSP Branch consulted on the development and design of the program. It also participated in the review of grant application of a new program Congress funded under the MIOTCRA.
For more information:
Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program/FY 2007 Competitive Grant Announcement (now closed to new applications) (PDF)
Mental Health and Justice Collaboration Program Grant Awards FY 2006 (PDF)
2002 Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project Report
The Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project
was a national effort coordinated by CSG to help local, state, and Federal policymakers and criminal justice and mental health professionals improve the response to people with mental illness who become involved in, or are at risk of involvement in, the criminal justice system. The Consensus Project Report was released in June 2002.
Through the coordinating efforts of the CSG, SAMHSA continues to contribute significantly and work with its Federal and non-Federal partners to use the report as a source document to improve the national response to people with mental illness who become involved with the criminal justice system.
Judges’ Criminal Justice/Mental Health Leadership Initiative (JLI)
As part of the Judge’s Criminal Justice/Mental Health Leadership Initiative (JLI), the Technical Assistance and Policy Analysis (TAPA) Center for Jail Diversion and the Council of State Government’s Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project have collaborated on this initiative to help judges assume leadership roles on issues that can only be addressed through collaboration between the criminal justice and mental health systems.
The initiative’s mission is to support and enhance the efforts of judges who have already taken leadership roles on criminal justice/mental health issues. It also promotes leadership among more judges to address the over-representation of people with mental illness in the criminal justice system.
Since 2004, the JLI convenes annual national meetings. An advisory committee to the JLI, which is comprised of judges and court administrators from around the United States and representatives of national judicial organizations, has been convening since 2005. The JLI has developed numerous resources for judges, including a quarterly newsletter, a listserv, and a website.
After the Crisis (ATC) Initiative: Healing from Trauma after Disasters
The After the Crisis (ATC) Initiative is a collaborative initiative between the National GAINS Center for Systemic Change for Justice-Involved Persons with Mental Illness and the National Center for Trauma-Informed Care (NCTIC). The key activities of the ATC Initiative are focused on the development of consumer peer support technical assistance strategies and networks that are dedicated to addressing the long-term mental health and trauma needs of disaster survivors. The majority of the activities specifically address the needs of justice-involved individuals with mental health issues in times of disaster.
The initiative’s network is comprised of a broad array of experts, many of whom are trauma survivors and have had personal experience with disaster in their communities. Collectively, the membership of the initiative includes representatives from the community, state, and national levels. In addition, the ATC Initiative has designated a specific proportion of its work to develop a plan to address the needs of justice-involved persons.
For more information:
After the Crisis website
After the Crisis: Resource Papers and Issue Briefs
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