Implementation of the National Judicial Task Force to Examine State Courts' Response to Mental Illness Report and Recommendations
The Task Force made a number of important findings with corresponding recommendations supported by over 100 resources for courts and our partner stakeholders. Each Behavioral Health Alerts revisits an original Task Force resource or a new resource that supports a Task Force recommendation.
Fostering a State Court Informed Behavioral Health Continuum of Care As State Courts have increasingly become the default system for addressing the needs of those with behavioral health related needs, embracing an active role in informing the vision for a behavioral health continuum of care is crucial to Leading Change. Although court and behavioral health structures differ between states, across the nation, State Courts play a critical role in developing and fostering public health and safety strategy and innovations that not only work for individuals using services and supports but also for the courts for diversion.
Task Force Recommendations Implementation - Resources and News
Better Services for Familiar Faces Understanding mental illness and addiction is rarely thought of as part of the necessary education for judges. Yet judges throughout our country are continually forced to confront the effects of unaddressed behavioral health issues on our judicial systems. These issues negatively impact public safety, burden taxpayer resources, and create a revolving door of “familiar faces” between courthouses, jails, hospitals, and homelessness services. As leaders in our states’ judiciaries, we feel obligated to assist in remediating this problem. That’s why we’re working with colleagues in our state legislatures and executive branches, as well as stakeholders from across our states, to use data to drive better outcomes for these “familiar faces.”
While this may not be what we expected to do when we became judges, we recognize our responsibility to protect public safety while also ensuring justice for the people who appear in our courtrooms. We’ve seen the benefits of collaboration across all three branches and with communities to improve outcomes for people who are familiar faces. With a shared vision and goal, we can implement data-driven policies to end the revolving door and begin long-term change. (Michael Boggs is chief justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia and Briana H. Zamora is a justice of the Supreme Court of New Mexico.)
Judge Steven Leifman: Will Leave Bench to Focus on Mental Health Issues, Facility For the past 24 years, Judge Steven Leifman has been at the forefront of the mental health and criminal justice reform movement in the United States. Judge Leifman, who is the associate administrative judge of the Miami-Dade County Court Criminal Division, is set to open the Miami-Dade Behavioral Health Center once it’s approved by the county. The new 181,000-square-foot, seven-story building will include a receiving center, integrated crisis stabilization unit, residential treatment, outpatient behavioral health and primary health care, and dental and optometric services. “Our goal is to foster and coordinate systems that adequately connect acutely ill individuals who may be facing a crisis, to access to quality behavioral health and substance use disorder services,” he said.
Research and Resources
A Comprehensive Update and Evaluation of State and Federal Statutes on Competency to Stand Trial: Dusky, Jackson, Sell, and Olmstead Considerations Competency to stand trial (CST) has become one of the most significant mental health issues facing the criminal justice system. What has been dubbed the “competency crisis” has been attributed to the ever-increasing referrals, rising costs, and limited availability for inpatient restoration. Concerns regarding criminal competencies have reached the highest branch of the judiciary, and each time, the Court opined that decisions rest with the state. With the goal of evaluating similarities and differences among state laws and procedures, state statutes were reviewed to identify the criteria being used to evaluate CST, the length of time deemed “reasonable” to restore competence, the legality of forcible medication for the sole purpose of restoring competence, and approved locations of restoration.
Justice and Behavioral Health Strategy Lab The CSG Justice Center has launched the Justice and Behavioral Health Strategy Lab, an interactive repository that features innovative approaches at the intersection of the justice system and behavioral health (BH). It presents local programs and policies from across the country that are addressing community needs and invites submissions of successful strategies, offering visibility and fostering a collaborative environment for changemakers. There are currently 202 local examples across 87 interventions; recent additions during the reporting period include information-sharing agreements, specialized probation responses, mental health professionals embedded in probation departments, and co-responder teams. They are also conducting an annual accuracy check of local examples and interventions, updating examples with more recent information, and including links to newer resources.
2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health This report provides key findings from the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) on substance use, mental health, and treatment among the noninstitutionalized U.S. population aged 12 or older. Estimates are presented by age group and by race/ethnicity for selected measures.
The State of Mental Health in America Mental Health America (MHA) is dedicated to the promotion of mental health, well-being, and illness prevention. They envision a world in which all people and communities have equitable opportunity for mental well-being and are enabled to flourish and live with purpose and meaning. They believe that gathering and providing up-to-date data and information about disparities faced by individuals with mental health problems is a tool for change.
The Crime and Safety Blind Spot: Are Mental Health Disorders Fueling Criminal Activity? The majority of individuals with mental health issues, even serious mental health disorders, do not commit crimes. However, mental health and substance use often intersect, with individuals lacking the support systems to manage both conditions. Poverty exacerbates the struggle for adequate care, leaving many with serious mental health disorders without necessary support, perpetuating cycles of homelessness and incarceration. Fortunately, many communities are adopting alternative solutions, and many programs show promising outcomes. Initiatives like mental health courts, co-responder models, and mobile crisis teams offer more effective approaches. However, these efforts are insufficient to meet the overwhelming demand for mental health services and often face staffing challenges of their own. Consequently, individuals frequently wait for services and must fend for themselves in the interim. Additionally, the rise in competency hearings remains concerning and further strains the system.
Addressing Behavioral Health Needs During Community Reentry from Prison and Jail People returning to communities after incarceration face significant health challenges, including high rates of mental illness and substance use disorders. This population also encounters substantial barriers to accessing health care services and faces difficulty meeting key health-related social needs (HRSN), such as housing, healthy food, and employment. Behavioral health care providers, correctional facilities, policymakers, and other interested stakeholders can use this new Better Care Playbook Collection to understand evidence-based strategies to better address the behavioral health needs of people during reentry and learn about promising implementation strategies.
Register for the Returning to the Community: Health Care After Incarceration Resource Overview Webinar This webinar will provide an overview of the recently released Returning to the Community: Health Care After Incarceration: A Guide for Health Care Reentry. Learn about how you can help those returning to the community after incarceration to maintain their physical and behavioral health. This webinar will highlight resources available from CMS and DOJ and will focus on the newly released guide.
Emergency Medical Services (EMS)-led Deflection Response to Substance Use Disorder in Florida: Coordinated Opioid Recovery (CORE) Program The webinar will provide an overview of a program in Florida utilizing the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system to respond to patients with substance use disorder (SUD). In addition to responding to emergency calls for the sick and injured, many EMS agencies across the country have added community paramedics to their ranks whose role is to treat people with chronic disease and lessen their need for emergency ambulance response.
Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) Training SBIRT is an integrated, evidence-based, early-intervention program that can be implemented in primary care, emergency departments, mental health clinics and school-based health settings. If you are an administrator or clinician who is new to SBIRT — or you’re looking for a refresher — this three-hour virtual training is for you.
Join SAMHSA’s PCSS-MOUD Exchange Sessions to Learn About the Implementation of Opioid Use Disorder Treatment in a Variety of Healthcare Settings SAMHSA’s Providers Clinical Support System – Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (PCSS-MOUD) is hosting a four-part learning Exchange Session that addresses requirements, strategies, and considerations for integrating opioid use disorder treatment in various care settings. Sessions start on August 1 and run each week through August 22 at 3 p.m. ET. The PCSS-MOUD Exchange sessions will focus on exploring, preparing, implementing, and sustaining treatment services including the use of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD). Topics such as medication review, patient screening, protocols, clinic workflows, and strategies for treating patients, including addressing treating patients with other heath conditions.
CSRC Language Guide Words and Phrases to Effect Positive Change in Community Supervision Agencies The CSRC Language Guide is designed to help pretrial, probation, and parole practitioners understand, identify, and use person-first language. Person-first language is a way to emphasize the person and view a status, disorder, disease, condition, or disability as only one part of the whole person: what the person “has” rather than what the person “is.” Person-first language avoids using labels or adjectives to define someone. For example, people in prison versus prisoners, and people with mental illnesses versus the mentally ill.
From Harm to Health: Centering Racial Equity and Lived Experience in Mental Health Crisis Response From Harm to Health offers a holistic and comprehensive framework to transform how we address mental health emergencies — from a reactive system driven by public safety goals and procedures to a preventative, health-first approach that centers racial equity, lived experience, systemic challenges, and cultural competency. It is a report created by The Front End Project – a collaborative effort that aims to set forth a vision and strategies rooted in public health to transform how mental health emergencies (or “crises”) develop and are handled, which in many communities heavily relies on or defaults to law enforcement.
CSG Justice Briefing Reentry 2030 momentum; Tackling racial disparities; Supporting Americans with disabilities; and more.
In the News
Denver County Opens New Competency Court When criminal defendants’ competency to stand trial is questioned, court proceedings can sometimes screech to a halt. The Denver County Court hopes to get those proceedings back on track through a new competency support docket, a specialized program the court announced on Wednesday. “Competency cases are resource and time intensive and often involve several separate agencies,” Denver County Court Presiding Judge Kerri Lombardi said in a news release. “By having these cases heard and supported by a dedicated team that is fluent in competency-related matters, we expect to shorten the time it takes to stabilize defendants, keep these cases moving forward, and improving public safety.”
From Asylums to Prisons and Jails: A Failed Social Policy A consensus exists among criminal justice practitioners, especially those who work in corrections, that individuals who are severely mentally ill belong in hospitals, not prisons or jails. However, the reality of the situation is that offenders with severe mental illness are currently more likely to occupy a bed inside a correctional institution than one in a psychiatric hospital. Until the nation’s mental health system is realigned to better serve individuals with severe mental illness who break the law, this unfortunate trend will continue.
Court Panel to Take a Hard Look at Problem-solving Courts With an Emphasis on Mental Illness and Substance Disorders The Florida Supreme Court has charged the Steering Committee on Problem-Solving Courts with the ongoing responsibility of addressing the needs of individuals engaged with the court system due to mental illness and substance use disorders. This mandate spans the next two years and emphasizes the application of differentiated case management principles alongside other evidence-based and emerging best practices.
Wellbeing
Police Mental Health Mental health intervention is a critical tool for preventing police violence. In recent years, activists have pointed to a tragic pattern of police misinterpreting civilian mental health crises and responding with deadly force. People with untreated mental illness are 16 times more likely to die at the hands of police. Today, a growing number of co-responder programs successfully deploy social workers alongside police to assess, intervene, and de-escalate. This Article turns the mental health spotlight in a different direction: from the victims of police violence to the police themselves. Police officers experience a range of mental illnesses at rates many times the base rate for the general population. They are among the professions at the highest risk for suicide, substance abuse, sleep deprivation, and PTSD. In police officers, these disorders are each associated, whether directly or indirectly, with an increased risk of perpetrating violence. These statistics point to a law enforcement landscape that abjectly fails to adequately assess officers’ mental health and emotional stability before arming them.
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