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.
Model Legal Processes to Support Clinical Intervention for Persons with Serious Mental Illnesses and Pathways to Care: A Roadmap for Coordinating Criminal Justice, Mental Health Care, and Civil Court Systems to Meet the Needs of Individuals and Society The statutory language proposed in this document would create a more accessible legal pathway to involuntary care for the sake of an individual’s health and well-being than is presently available in most states. Ensuring that “placement options and a continuum of appropriate related services” are available for the court’s referral and, more importantly, that those services are available before someone gets to the point of needing crisis intervention and involuntary care must remain the focus for our collective advocacy.
The second part of this resource proposes a pathways approach. A range of initiatives has been designed to tackle small corners of this problem with specialized programs, but the broader criminal justice system continues to function inefficiently and ineffectively because it fails to routinely match best practice interventions to prevent recidivism to individual needs, for the majority of individuals who are experiencing MI and/or SUD. Taxpayers deserve to see their limited public funds targeted to create a systematic approach with better outcomes. Our thesis in this “Roadmap” is that criminal justice systems that are appropriately designed and structured to promote wellness and recovery for the high-volume population with mental illness and substance use disorders would save money and produce better results.
Task Force Recommendations Implementation - Resources and News
New dates set for Decriminalizing Mental Illness: The Miami Model These two day workshops in Miami provide an opportunity to hear directly from Judge Steve Leifman and his colleagues about Miami’s innovations in crisis response, diversion, civil off-ramps, competence to stand trial alternatives, and the effective use of peers. Attendees also visit the model wraparound services facility, the Miami Center for Mental Health and Recovery. Most importantly, learn how to engage in meaningful system change, and leave with a plan to implement new strategies in you jurisdiction. The new dates: October 11-12, November 7-8, and December 5-6. Contact Rick Schwermer to hold a spot for your team at rschwermer@ncsc.org
Research and Resources
Court-reported competence to proceed data across the United States Evaluations of competence to proceed safeguard defendants’ capacity to understand case proceedings and meaningfully engage in their legal defense. Despite the constitutional protection provided by these evaluations, nationwide competence to proceed with evaluation data is exceptionally inconsistent and weak, if not entirely absent. Our study facilitates improved understanding of this critical issue for researchers, legal and mental health professionals, policymakers, and civil rights advocates.
National Survey of Mobile Crisis Teams This National Survey of MCTs is the most comprehensive national survey of MCTs to date. This survey was intended to describe the national landscape of MCTs to inform the development of local, state, and federal roadmaps for crisis care systems. By describing a baseline of MCT characteristics and identifying gaps, crisis system administrators will be better equipped to develop policies, refine funding priorities, and optimize implementation planning. This survey further aims to serve as a stepping stone to a national platform that can be used to identify and contact MCTs by referring agencies such as 988 contact centers, behavioral health providers, first responders, and others.
Responding to Homelessness - a Police-Mental Health Collaboration (PMHC) Toolkit People who experience homelessness tend to have frequent (and often repeat) interactions with law enforcement. A key driver of these interactions is the prevalence of unmet behavioral health needs. PMHCs are well situated to intervene in these situations and help provide connections to care. However, they can also connect people to safe and affordable housing options, providing a longer-term foundation for both reduced justice involvement and improved behavioral health outcomes.
Leveraging the VA in Identifying Veterans in the Justice System through VRSS and SQUARES The first step necessary for any veterans treatment court (VTC) is identifying their justice-involved veteran population. Justice for Vets Key Component #3 of the Ten Key Components of VTCs is that "Eligible Participants are identified early and promptly placed in the veterans treatment court program." Identification can be accomplished through various methods and at multiple points within the criminal justice system. This webinar will highlight two systems provided by the Dept. of Veterans Affairs to assist jurisdictions in identifying justice-involved veterans.
Psychiatric Advance Directives to Promote Community Living SAMHSA’s Office of Recovery hosted a virtual event sharing benefits and challenges of completing a psychiatric advance directive, highlighting the role peers can play, and sharing tools and innovations on June 28, 2024.
Understanding PTSD in Children and Adolescents The early identification and timely treatment of PTSD in children can help to eliminate long-term suffering and prevent the intergenerational transmission of trauma. The information below can help adults to more easily recognize PTSD in youth and to know which evidence-based treatments to look for.
Recognizing and Reducing Stigma in AOT Despite increased public understanding of the biological origins of SMI and efforts to destigmatize mental health conditions, stigma and misconceptions around severe mental illness persist. Join us next Thursday, July 18 at 3 p.m. ET for a webinar, Recognizing and Reducing Stigma in AOT, to explore the topic of stigma and the impact it can have on recovery for individuals experiencing severe mental illnesses like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Learn how to use person-centered language in care settings and daily life to reduce stigma and increase understanding. Audience members will leave equipped with practical language alternatives, resource documents, and anecdotes to use in their communities.
A Model for Compassionate and Accessible Mental Health and Substance Use Care: Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics Recent data has shown that approximately one-third of adults with symptoms of depression and anxiety disorder reported receiving no care for these symptoms, and over 90% of people with SUD received no treatment. Rates of behavioral health conditions are also higher in low-income, rural, and indigenous communities and communities of color, and there are significant racial disparities in access to services. In places where mental health providers do accept Medicaid or care for the uninsured, months-long wait times are frequently the norm. The Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) model was designed to address these access issues and promote more integrated care for people with serious behavioral health conditions. This blog post provides a broad overview of CCBHC implementation opportunities and explores the experiences and impact of two programs: VIP Community Services in the Bronx, New York, and GRAND Mental Health in Oklahoma.
With Liberty and Justice for ALL: The Case for Decriminalizing Homelessness and Mental Health in America This article examines the criminalization of people with mental health disabilities who experience homelessness, incorporating various race and poverty factors associating housing with health. Section II critiques the judicial landscape of homelessness criminalization by first turning to the seminal decisions of Martin v. Boise and Johnson v. City of Grants Pass, which have shaped the past five years of homeless rights law and policy. It then assesses how the insufficient framework of the Equal Protection Clause of the federal Constitution limits courts’ abilities to protect the rights of poor people experiencing homelessness and resolve related socioeconomic issues. Against this backdrop, Section III details the history of homelessness criminalization, focusing more narrowly on the criminalization of mental health and the emergence of involuntary civil commitments as a proxy of the criminal legal system.
Conditional Release and Consent to Treatment This article takes up the question of how the right to refuse treatment operates in the context of conditional release from inpatient psychiatric commitment. Part One explores the practice of conditional release from inpatient psychiatric care as a form of outpatient commitment and describes the range of substantive and procedural approaches that are used to structure these step-down arrangements. Part Two then takes up the legal and policy questions associated with the right to grant or withhold consent to medication in the context of psychiatric treatment. Part Three concludes by considering how the doctrines described in Part Two map onto the practices set out in Part One and offers some suggestions for reconciling the competing interests at play. (Westlaw Link)
CSG Justice Briefing Expanding first response; Advancing racial equity; Responding to homelessness; and more.
TAC SMI Advocate Maryland Governor Wes Moore signed an AOT bill into law on May 16th, 2024. This makes Maryland the 48th state with a statute which allows for AOT. Connecticut and Massachusetts are the two remaining states without AOT laws. The Maryland law authorizes each county in Maryland to establish an AOT program for individuals with “serious and persistent mental illness.” If a county does not opt to establish a program, the Maryland Department of Health must do so by July 1, 2026. In other words, it is not being left up to counties to decide whether they will be providing AOT.
In the News
NM governor rejects call from mental health care providers, advocates to cancel special session A coalition of 41 different organizations, mental health providers and other individuals from across New Mexico signed a letter to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham Tuesday urging her to halt the legislative special session she called for July 18. But on Tuesday afternoon, a spokesperson for the governor said she is moving forward with the special session, and characterized the groups’ letter as calling for “doing nothing.” But the Governor’s office said her plans would “provide accountability and treatment for those who become entangled in the criminal justice system because of underlying mental health challenges, while improving the safety of New Mexico’s communities.”
'We need some help' | Mother, judges say system is failing DC kids who need mental health treatment Over the past year, the District has seen a juvenile crime spike that has outpaced the rest of the nation. Intake data from DYRS shows D.C. has average six new juvenile admissions to the facility every day for most of 2024. The cumulative effect is a consistent stream of new cases constantly pouring on top of a juvenile caseload judges increasingly aren’t able to clear because they’re waiting for critical psychiatric evaluations.
Behavioral Health Enters ‘Uncertainty Era’ After Chevron Doctrine Ends The U.S. Supreme Court has handed the behavioral health industry a bag of uncertainty with the elimination of the decade’s old Chevron doctrine. The removal of the Chevron doctrine, a high-profile legal decision, makes it easier for behavioral health providers to poke holes in state and federal rules that rely on regulatory agencies’ interpretations of statute. But now that judges don’t have to rely on agency interpretation, there is going to be significant turmoil and regional variability in the rules and regulations that implement statutes until time allows the new norm to find some semblance of equilibrium.
Arizona Mental health legislation gets bipartisan support Lawmakers crossed the aisle this session to pass legislation aimed at holding behavioral health treatment centers accountable and increasing inclusivity of severe mental illnesses that are often overlooked. Multiple bills signed into law this session were centered around expanding services for people with serious mental illness, or SMI. The legislation also expanded expectations and procedures for mental health screenings and court-ordered evaluations, specifically to be more inclusive of under-represented mental illnesses.
Wellbeing
Rx for Mental Health Well-Being — How Some Universities and Providers Are Prescribing Art and Cultural Engagement “The arts can improve people’s health outcomes,” says Chris Appleton, founder and CEO of Art Pharmacy, an Atlanta startup partnering with healthcare providers to connect patients with arts and cultural engagement in California, Georgia and Massachusetts. “Yet, the U.S. healthcare system hasn’t really integrated the arts into care delivery.” In January, Stanford University began offering arts-based social prescribing for students experiencing mental health challenges through Art Pharmacy, including dance classes and art exhibits on campus. All students are eligible for the program.
Comments or feedback about Behavioral Health Alerts?
Related news or resources from your state or jurisdiction?
Please contact Rick Schwermer.
