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.
Social Determinants of Health Through an increased understanding of the Social Determinants of Health, judges and court leaders can be more aware of how social context affects families and are able to have a more comprehensive picture of the barriers and limitations to resources and supports that court-involved families experience. The SDOH is a place-based framework that extends beyond individual health behaviors to the social, physical, and environmental factors that can have a causal role in health outcomes.
Task Force Recommendations Implementation - Resources and News
Statehouse Summit Seeks Solutions on Mental Health, Recidivism Vermont judges, prosecutors, lawmakers, and mental health experts are working together to help those who are mentally ill navigate the court system. Thursday’s Second Annual Mental Health and the Courts Summit at the Statehouse was spearheaded by the Vermont Judiciary Commission on Mental Health and the Courts and is part of an ongoing effort to both prevent recidivism and clear a backlog of cases. Following last year’s summit, the Judiciary is further trying to find alternatives for offenders to prevent them from going further into the court system if there’s a better solution. “Trying to figure out a way to help those folks get an off-ramp to something that’s going to work for them and ultimately work for everybody. It’ll be better for the community, better for the person served, and a better use of resources,” said Scott Acus with the Commission on Mental Health in the Courts.
Research and Resources
Wireless Calls to 988 Get a More Localized Response With Georouting Today, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline announced the process to start routing cellular phone calls to 988 contact centers based on the caller’s approximate location known as “georouting” began last week with two major U.S. wireless carriers that combined make up about half of all wireless calls to 988. The process to route cell phone calls to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline based on the caller’s approximate location versus by area code has started, and the FCC will vote next month on a final rule that would require all U.S. wireless carriers to implement georouting with specific timelines.
Connected and Strong Compendium: 10 Technical Assistance Briefs to Foster Unity and Strengthen Continuity Across Crisis Response and Treatment Systems This series of 10 papers focus on various issue areas in implementing a connected, strong, comprehensive, and effective behavioral health crisis services system nationwide that is accessible to all. Together, these papers lay out recommendations and highlight specific strategies to connect the oftentimes fragmented crisis care system and strengthen America’s approach to providing behavioral healthcare overall, in accordance with President Biden’s Unity Agenda.
Psychiatric Holds and the Fourth Amendment Fourth Amendment jurisprudence governing emergency searches and seizures for mental health evaluation, crisis stabilization, and treatment is in disarray. The Supreme Court has yet to opine on what Fourth Amendment standards apply to these “psychiatric holds,” and lower courts have not, on the whole, distinguished legal standards governing emergency holds from those governing routine criminal procedure. This article argues against the uncritical doctrinal overlay of criminal investigative rules and standards onto cases implicating noncriminal behavioral health concerns. Using a critical disability lens, it reconsiders key Fourth Amendment doctrines and standards applicable to people experiencing, or labeled as experiencing, mental crises. It situates emergency hold cases against a backdrop of disability policing and state institutionalization, connecting them to the broader privacy and security interests of disabled people and offering doctrinal interventions.
Recovery Housing: Expanding Access and Supporting Choice This Homeless and Housing Resource Center brief explains what recovery housing is, why it is an important resource within a CoC, and how housing and homeless service providers can help people find this type of housing.
Incentives, Sanctions, and Service Adjustments Workshop This interactive, two-day workshop is designed to educate interdisciplinary teams in the theory and application of behavior modification as it applies to an effective adult treatment court. The incentives, sanctions, and service adjustments (ISSA) workshop will challenge court teams to self-assess and receive assistance with taking corrective steps to improve policy, practice, and outcomes. The workshop includes a follow-up coaching session by faculty to observe staff meetings and status hearings, and to provide feedback on progress with implementation plans developed during the workshop. (This follow-up session is a mandatory component.) Workshops are available virtually or in person at no charge to your jurisdiction.
A Look at Mental Health Courts According to Hallie Fader-Towe, Director of Justice and Health Initiatives, Behavioral Health at The Council of State Governments (CSG), “mental health courts bring together elements that have been shown to improve health and justice outcomes, and when these interventions are aligned with identified needs associated with health and justice-system involvement, it makes sense that mental health courts have positive outcomes.” However, she believes that “there are things every court can do to identify mental health needs and connect people to appropriate treatment and supports, even outside participating in a specific program.” Judge Britton sees these positive effects firsthand. “I witness recovery every single time I hold court and love supporting and praising participants who rarely in their life have ever received a congratulations, let alone from a judge. My experience is that our graduates are happier and healthier than non-participant defendants in my court.”
Ask the Expert: Prioritizing and Problem-Solving About Justice and Behavioral Health in Collaborative Teams This Ask the Expert session will feature Kevin O’Connell, a researcher and consultant working in county cross-agency planning by putting data to work in problem-solving. He will walk participants through an approach for prioritizing often interrelated justice and behavioral health efforts in building a common strategy for cross-agency collaboration. The session will cover an approach for developing and prioritizing projects in transparent ways focusing on key county priorities, project risk, and complexity. Using an example from mental health diversion, Kevin will then show how a county can define a problem, develop a shared understanding of the problem, and plan a successful process improvement event in a way that can be replicated with other projects, moving from idea to shared problem-solving to measurable actions and implementation tracking.
Recognizing Trauma in Older Adults and Adopting Trauma-Informed Principles: Implications for Law Enforcement Whether it occurred recently or decades ago, trauma can influence the interactions that elder justice professionals, including law enforcement, have when working with older victims. In this webinar, attendees will learn how trauma affects behaviors and emotions and the signs and symptoms of trauma observed in older adults. Attendees will learn how understanding trauma can improve engagement with older victims and create more positive outcomes for law enforcement investigations. A detective with the Cambridge Police Department will discuss how and why the entire department adopted trauma-informed practices.
Mind Matters: Building a Justice System That Is Inclusive and Responsive to Brain Injury It is estimated that over half of individuals who encounter the criminal justice system have experienced a brain injury, making this a highly prevalent concern among people in the criminal justice system and those working within the system. To lay the foundation for future training, technical assistance, and resource development in this area, policy experts at The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, with support from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), used insights gathered from literature reviews, policy research, and focus groups to develop a comprehensive brief that outlines key findings and recommendations to advance the field in addressing the issue of brain injury within the criminal justice system.
Join BJA and the Other Byrne SCIP TTA Providers to Get Your Questions Answered The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) will host open Office Hours in the Fall of 2024 to provide support, training and technical assistance (TTA) to grantees through the Byrne State Crisis Intervention Program (Byrne SCIP). During these office hours, attendees can bring questions or concerns related to the administration of the Byrne SCIP grant and have them answered by either BJA staff or the Byrne SCIP training and technical assistance providers. Byrne SCIP grantees are welcome to register for any of these sessions based on interest, need, or focus of grant efforts. The first in the series will provide an opportunity for your grants management team to ask questions to your BJA Grant Manager about program requirements, grant award modifications, and JustGrants. There is no formal presentation planned; this is a time for an open dialogue with your BJA contact(s) and colleagues.
Invitation to Next AOT Judges Chat You’re invited to join the next Assisted Outpatient Treatment Judge’s web chat on Thursday, October 24 at 3 p.m. ET. The goal of these chats is to give you an opportunity to make connections, bounce ideas off of one another and ask those questions only a seasoned peer can answer. Whether you’ve been involved in AOT a long time, a short time, or are still on the fence, this meeting is for you! Please note this is a closed group for members of the judiciary only.
Register to Attend Webinar on NIJ-funded Youth Protective Factors Study on October 2 This webinar will present key findings from a brief highlighting findings from the Youth Protective Factors Study, “Youth Reoffending: Prevalence and Predictive Risk Factors in Two States.” This study, funded by the National Institute of Justice with support from OJJDP, and conducted by the UMass Chan Medical School, examined risk and protective factors that most influence reoffending—particularly serious offenses—among youth ages 10 to 23 in the juvenile justice system. Presenters will share key findings from the initial analysis, including research-based strategies for juvenile justice supervision, case planning, and services to enhance public safety and improve youth outcomes.
SJI Newsletter includes a grantee spotlight on court navigation and support; the Rural Justice Collaborative Digest; and upcoming webinars.
CSG Justice Briefing Washington State joins Reentry 2030; Building an inclusive health care workforce; Supporting community responder programs; and more.
In the News
Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts Receives Nearly $3 Million Mental Health Grant Award The AOIC and several justice partners will use the funds to operationalize a replicable and effective structure to increase the utilization of statutorily created civil outpatient pathways to mental health care, also referred to as Assisted Outpatient Treatment, in Cook and McLean Counties. This form of civil commitment authorizes the judicial system to commit eligible individuals with severe psychiatric disorders to mental health intervention in the community to improve the health, safety, and welfare of both individuals and the public.
Collaborative Effort Clears Path From Jail to Mental Health Treatment A statewide program launched this month wants to help people with mental illness facing felony charges get out of jail and into treatment. The forensic navigator program is a grant-funded collaboration between the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law and the Department of Mental Health. Its hotline is a resource for family members and those in the criminal legal system. When they call, they can talk with an attorney who serves as a bridge among the courts, law enforcement and DMH to arrange mental health treatment.
Federal Judge Gives Preliminary Approval to Resolve Oklahoma Mental Health Lawsuit A federal judge on Thursday gave provisional approval to a plan to resolve a class action lawsuit against the state alleging competency restoration services for defendants awaiting trial take too long. The plaintiffs and Drummond appeared to resolve a concern brought up earlier by Frizzell, who said the law does not allow for a community-based restoration treatment pilot program, a provision of the original agreement. The law does not permit competency restoration services to be provided outside of physical confinement, he said.
NCDHHS Releases New Report on Transforming Behavioral Health System During Suicide Prevention Week The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced the release of a new report, “Transforming North Carolina’s Behavioral Health System: Investing in a System That Delivers Whole-Person Care When and Where People Need It.” The report outlines the state’s expansive and strategic efforts to transform the public behavioral health system to deliver high-quality, equitable, accessible care that meets people where they are in their communities.
Fighting Staff Shortages With Scholarships, California Bill Aims to Boost Mental Health Courts A seemingly innocuous proposal to offer scholarships for mental health workers in California’s new court-ordered treatment program has sparked debate over whether the state should prioritize that program or tackle a wider labor shortage in behavioral health services. Nine counties have begun rolling out the Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment Act which Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed into law in 2022 to get people with untreated schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders, many of them incarcerated or homeless, into treatment. But often those skilled clinicians have been pulled by counties from other understaffed behavioral health programs.
Wellbeing
Stressed Out? These 8 Skills Can Help Boost Mood and Reduce Anxiety Is your to-do list overwhelming? Do the demands of family or work stress you out? Or maybe it’s politics, climate change, or global conflict that are making you feel anxious. It’s impossible to eliminate all of your stress, but science shows you can learn to manage it better.
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