CSG Justice Center Releases Framework for Reducing
Reincarceration and Improving Recovery among Corrections-Involved Adults with
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders
The
Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center recently released Adults
with Behavioral Health Needs under Correctional Supervision: A Shared Framework
for Reducing Recidivism and Promoting Recovery. The report is written
for policymakers, system administrators, and front-line service providers
committed to improving outcomes for men and women with behavioral health
disorders that cycle through the criminal justice system. The framework
introduced in the report can be used at the corrections and behavioral health
systems level to prioritize scarce resources based on objective assessments of
individuals’ risk of committing a future crime and their treatment and support
needs.
The
report outlines the principles and practices of the corrections and behavioral
health systems and a structure for state and local agencies to begin building
truly collaborative responses. It dispels myths about the link between mental
illness and violence, underscores that recovery and rehabilitation are possible,
and calls for the reallocation of resources where they will be most efficient
and effective.
Note:
On Tuesday, October 2, the CSG Justice Center will host a webinar that will
introduce the underlying principles and potential uses of the framework. To
register for the webinar, click here.
New Resource: A Checklist for Implementing Evidence-Based
Practices and Programs for Justice-Involved Adults with Behavioral Health
Disorders
SAMHSA's GAINS Center for Behavioral Health and Justice
Transformation and the Council of State Governments Justice Center have
produced an easy-to-use checklist to help behavioral health agencies assess
their utilization of evidence-based practices and programs (EBPs). A particular
challenge for public behavioral health stakeholders is ensuring that EBPs that
address the needs of justice-involved people with behavioral health disorders
are available and integrated into existing systems of care. This is most often
achieved through the collaborative efforts of several agencies working within
multiple systems. The checklist provides guidance on how to build successful
cross-system collaboration; asks a series of questions to help agencies
determine whether their system has the necessary elements in place to support
the implementation of EBPs; and outlines the EBPs that researchers, experts, and
practitioners have identified as being appropriate for adults with behavioral
health disorders who are involved in the criminal justice system.
The
checklist is divided into two sections:
- Section One: Building a Cross-Collaborative System to Support the Implementation
of EBPs helps behavioral health agencies determine whether
their systems have the critical components necessary to effectively
implement EBPs and address the needs of clients who are involved in the
criminal justice system.
- Section Two: Assessing and Implementing Effective Programs contains a list of EBPs and promising practices and programs for
justice-involved clients. Providers can use this list to identify whether
their agencies utilize these key practices and programs or to prioritize
for future implementation.
To
download the checklist, click here.
JMHCP Success Story: CIT and Outreach Program Work
Together to Help Young Man and His Family
The
Council of State Governments Justice Center—which coordinates the Criminal
Justice / Mental Health Consensus Project—has been collecting stories that will
be published monthly about individuals whose lives have improved as a result of
their involvement in a Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program
(JMHCP)-funded grant program. If you would like to provide a story about a
successful client in your JMHCP-funded program, please contact Stephanie Joson of the CSG Justice Center.
This
story is about a juvenile enrolled in the Recovery from Serious Emotional
Disturbance through Family Interventions and Crisis Intervention Team (CIT)
Program. All names and other individually identifying details have been changed
to preserve confidentiality.
Grant
Program: Justice and
Mental Health Collaboration
Grantee Type: Expansion
State: Missouri
Grantee: Missouri Department of Mental Health and the National Alliance
on Mental Illness (NAMI)—St. Louis
Program Name: Recovery from Serious Emotional Disturbances through
Family Interventions and Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Program.
Over the
course of a year, 17-year-old Robert became increasingly reclusive. He had
stopped eating regularly and was often angry and easily agitated to the point
of threatening his mother. On one such occasion, his mother feared for her
safety and called the police. Officers assigned to a specially trained crisis
intervention team (CIT) responded and persuaded Robert to let his mother take
him to a hospital.
There he
was diagnosed for the first time with bipolar disorder and admitted for
inpatient treatment. When he was discharged a few days later, psychiatrists
gave Robert a prescription for medication and advised his mother to connect him
to outpatient psychiatric services.
When the
sergeant who heads the CIT program reviewed the incident report filed by the
responding officers, he referred the case to NAMI St. Louis, which he felt
could provide Robert’s family valuable follow-up services. The organization’s
family-outreach professional contacted Robert’s mother and set up an in-person
appointment. Over the course of several weeks, the NAMI outreach worker met
with Robert, his mom, and his sister numerous times. She listened to his mom
and sister describe their feelings of isolation and the heavy emotional burden
that Robert’s illness had caused for them both. These conversations provided
Robert’s mother an outlet to express her anxiety for her son and concerns for
his illness’s impact on her daughter.
To
continue reading this success story, click here.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
This
bulletin from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics
presents national trends among state and federal prison inmates from 2001 to
2010 in the rates of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune
deficiency syndrome (AIDS), as well as AIDS-related death rates among this
population. To download this bulletin, click here.
This
brief report from the Urban Institute's Health Policy Center explores how the
Affordable Care Act (ACA) will impact states. The report's focus is limited to
the effect the ACA will have on state costs, state savings, state
administration, and state revenue. Developing a definitive fiscal analysis for
a particular state requires analyzing unique, state-specific information
sources. The goal of this report is to aid those efforts by flagging issues for
consideration by state-level analysts. To download the report, click here.
This
report from the Sentencing Project introduces key provisions of the Affordable
Care Act as they relate to correctional populations, and includes links to
organizations that are closely following the implementation of the act. To
download the report, click here.
This
survey from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA) showed the rates of recent drinking, binge drinking, and heavy
drinking among underaged people continued a decline from 2002. Alcohol use
within the past 30 days among 12- to 20-year olds declined from 28.8 percent in
2002 to 25.1 percent in 2011, while binge drinking (consuming five or more
drinks on a single occasion on at least one day in the past 30 days) declined
from 19.3 percent in 2002 to 15.8 percent in 2011, and heavy drinking declined
from 6.2 percent in 2002 to 4.4 percent in 2011. Overall, the use of illicit
drugs among Americans age 12 and older remained stable since the last survey in
2010. The survey shows that 22.5 million Americans aged 12 or older were
current (past month) illicit drug users—8.7 percent in 2011 versus 8.9 percent
in 2010. To download the survey, click here.
CJ/MH IN THE NEWS
Articles
from newspapers around the country covering issues at the intersection of
mental health and criminal justice can be found on the Consensus Project
website. Some recent headlines are posted below.
9/25/12 — Health and Human Services
(HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced a new program, made possible
by the Affordable Care Act, which will boost the number of social workers and
psychologists who work with Americans in rural areas, military personnel,
veterans, and their families.
9/20/12 — For three years,
Philadelphia's Mental Health Court has identified lower-level felons who suffer
from mental illness and worked to help them become more productive members of
society.
9/20/12 — In a bid to reduce conflicts
and better help mentally ill people, Palo Alto police officers completed an
innovative training program Wednesday, Sept. 19.
9/19/12 — The Crisis Solution Center
was created as a therapeutic alternative for people experiencing a behavioral
crisis to go for help, instead of jail or an emergency room.
9/17/12 — The Delaware County
commissioners voted unanimously on Monday, Sept. 10, to approve a memorandum of
understanding between the county jail and Recovery and Prevention Resources of
Delaware and Morrow Counties Inc. to provide mental health services.
9/17/12 — Forty-five officers,
dispatchers, prosecutors and probation officials from Johnson County, Greenwood
and Franklin recently attended the Crisis Intervention Training.
9/15/12 — Since March, the Depression
& Bipolar Support Alliance of Brown County has provided separate support
groups for male and female inmates.
9/14/12 — Kent Police Officer James
Fuller was named the 2012 Crisis Intervention Team Officer of the Year by the
Mental Health & Recovery Board of Portage County and the Portage County
Police Chiefs Association.
9/12/12 — Mental health advocates are
looking at a successful jail diversion program to get the mentally ill out of
Kansas jails.
9/11/12 — Leon County commissioners
voted 5 to 2 to put $100,000 toward one year of competency services to help
those with arrested who suffer from mental illnesses.
9/12/12 — Consolidating mental health
treatment services at a vacant facility owned by Marian Regional Medical Center
in Santa Maria was heralded Tuesday by Santa Barbara County supervisors,
doctors and others as a major step toward meeting the county’s longstanding
mental health needs.