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.
Strategic Planning Through Sequential Intercept Mapping The Sequential Intercept Model is designed to facilitate cross-system communication and collaboration. By convening and engaging justice and community partners to identify resources and opportunities to enhance diversion pathways at each sequential intercept, courts can take the lead in developing a shared responsibility for public safety and wellbeing.
Task Force Recommendations Implementation - Resources and News
Chief Justice Suggests Creating Mental Health Courts Missouri Chief Justice Mary Russell outlined the status of Missouri’s courts to legislators Wednesday, giving an hour-by-hour “day in the life” of the state’s justice system in her annual State of the Judiciary address. In last year’s address, Russell emphasized mental health issues in the justice system. To continue addressing these issues, she recommended expanding the state’s treatment court divisions by adding mental health courts. “Over three decades, our treatment courts have built a track record of success helping people stay out of our criminal justice system and find new beginnings as both loving members of their families and productive community citizens,” Russell said.
Research and Resources
Webinar: Improving Mental Health Outcomes: 59 Essential Evidence-Based Practices for Communities, Police, Courts, Jails, and Community Corrections Join Drs. Jennifer Johnson and Faye S. Taxman for a discussion on results from their study exploring evidence-based mental health practices for individuals involved in the justice system or at risk of becoming involved in the justice system. These practices can be used in communities or in police, court, jail, and community corrections settings. Their work has shown that a lack of community mental health and substance use services in communities predicts higher per capita jail populations. Therefore, strengthening community mental health services is important for preventing jail incarceration and re-incarceration.
The Evolution of Arizona's Innovative Crisis System Arizona has evolved its crisis response system over the past 15 years, establishing a model that emphasizes coordination, accessibility, and fiscal responsibility. At the heart of this transformation is a managed Medicaid structure, a robust funding strategy, and a commitment to treating individuals in the community.
Addiction Policy Forum’s Addiction Literacy Initiative Addiction literacy includes knowledge about substance use disorders, their prevention, recognition, treatment, and management, and our ability to actually apply that information, whether we are family members, practitioners in the field, or patients. Higher literacy results in less stigma, more intention to engage with someone struggling, more understanding of what science-backed treatment and policies look like, and increased confidence that we can tackle this issue in our own families, medical practices, county systems, jails, and communities.
CT-R Shows Success in Forensic Mental Health Settings People with serious mental health conditions have complex needs and often face challenges unique to them. Recovery-Oriented Cognitive Therapy (CT-R) provides practical strategies and interventions to promote desired lives, reduce mortality, and enhance thriving in the face of life’s often very difficult challenges.
Expert Says, ‘Lack of Insight’ Is a Disagreement in Perspective When mental health professionals discuss psychosis, they often highlight the person’s lack of insight into their psychosis as a barrier to care. However, Dr. Paul Grant, director of Research, Innovation and Practice at the Beck Institute Center for Recovery-Oriented Cognitive Therapy, says what’s happening is a difference in perspective. “There’s often a disagreement, in terms of what they’re experiencing, between the person and their doctors and family,” he said. Grant advocates for families and providers to adopt this terminology shift to improve relationships and treatment engagement. He says the term “lack of insight” can seem judgmental and impede trust, while “disagreement” acknowledges the person’s viewpoint.
Getting the Most Out of Your Evaluation Report: Strategies for Success In this interactive webinar, the COSSUP Data and Evaluation training and technical assistance provider, Abt Global, will present with COSSUP grantees from Boston, Massachusetts, on getting the most out of your evaluation report. The webinar will equip COSSUP grantees and other practitioners with practical strategies for effectively using evaluation reports to enhance decision making, program improvement, and sustainability. Speakers will cover best practices for planning, structuring, and assessing evaluation reports to maximize their utility.
Mindfulness-Based Therapy Reduces Opioid Craving by 67 Percent, Study Finds A randomized clinical trial published in JAMA Network Open found that incorporating online group mindfulness sessions into buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) significantly reduced opioid cravings compared to treatment as usual. The study, led by Dr. Zev Schuman-Olivier and colleagues from Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School, examined the effectiveness of a 24-week virtual mindfulness-based program compared to a standard recovery support group using evidence-based practices.
Overview of the Correctional Healthcare RFP Toolkit Correctional and detention facilities provide health care to over 10 million people annually. This population has significantly higher rates of infections, chronic diseases, mental illness, and substance use disorders than the public. The Toolkit for Writing an RFP to Contract for Healthcare Services in a Correctional or Detention Institution (Correctional Healthcare RFP Toolkit) is designed to help correctional and detention facilities—along with local governments—create effective, outcome-focused requests for proposals (RFPs) for healthcare services.
CSG Justice Briefing State of the states; Expanding health care for people who are incarcerated; 10 years of Stepping Up; and more.
In the News
Federal Agency Dedicated to Mental Illness and Addiction Faces Huge Cuts The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has already closed offices and could see staff numbers reduced by 50 percent. SAMHSA’s broad mandate includes overseeing 988, the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which fields millions of calls through state offices; regulating outpatient clinics that dispense opioid treatment drugs such as methadone; directing funds to drug courts (also called “treatment courts”); and producing nationwide annual surveys of substance use and mental health issues. It provides best-practice training and resources for hundreds of nonprofits and state agencies, and helps establish centers that provide opioid addiction prevention, treatment, and social services. It is also a federal watchdog that closely monitors the spending of taxpayer-funded grants for mental health and addiction.
Administrative Office of the Courts Launches Behavioral Health Treatment Program The New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts announced a new program involving court-ordered behavioral health treatment will begin this week for Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Los Alamos counties. The “assisted outpatient treatment” program will allow family members, behavioral health providers and others to request a court order that requires “qualifying individuals” to receive “community-based treatment” for mental health disorders, a news release from the agency states. The criteria for assisted outpatient treatment are laid out in state law, including a diagnosis of a mental disorder and a lack of willingness to receive treatment. Other requirements include someone being jailed or hospitalized twice over a four-year period in relation to their mental illness, or acts of “serious violent behavior” toward themselves or others.
A Ninth Circuit Court Decision Has Ended Legal Protections for Officers Responding to Some Mental Health Emergencies. That’s Changing Which Calls Police Will Answer. In 2019, Las Vegas resident Roy Scott was handcuffed and restrained by police after he called 911 with paranoid delusions. Scott lost consciousness and later died at a hospital. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in July that officers who were involved don’t have qualified immunity, which protects police from legal liability, because they weren't responding to a crime. That decision is changing policies at sheriffs’ departments in California. Del Norte County Sheriff Garrett Scott said the ruling means that if a law isn’t being broken, his deputies will no longer act as first responders for mental health emergencies.
Judge Considers Contempt Order, Fines to Force Oregon Into Mental Health System Improvements A federal judge is weighing her options following a two-day hearing that could force major changes — and investment — in Oregon's flailing and noncompliant mental health system. Judge Adrienne Nelson is considering contempt charges and remedial actions to bring Oregon into compliance with a longstanding court order that requires the admission of mentally ill defendants who are unable to aid and assist with their own defense to the state psychiatric hospital — Oregon State Hospital — within seven days.
New Mexico Joins Other Blue States Locking Up More People With Mental Illness Homelessness has increased in Albuquerque, according to an annual Point in Time Count, and Mayor Tim Keller said last year that as many as 5,000 people are now on the streets. About 44% of those people suffer a severe mental illness, according to the NM Coalition to End Homelessness. When people with mental illness do end up in court, many of those cases are dismissed because a defendant who is evaluated and found mentally incompetent to stand trial cannot legally be tried. These incompetency dismissals add up to hundreds every year in Bernalillo County alone. The Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court said 432 low level criminal cases were dismissed for reason of incompetency in 2024.
Wellbeing
Sen. Ossoff Introduces Bipartisan Bill to Help First Responders Suffering From PTSD Sen. Ossoff this week helped introduce the bipartisan Fighting Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Act to help first responders who are dealing with long-term mental health effects. The bill was introduced by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Chris Coons (D-DE). The bipartisan bill would direct the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to develop evidence-based treatment programs for first responders across the country, similar to services already available to military personnel who develop PTSD or acute stress disorders.
Making Workplaces Healthier: Ideas and Innovations for a Better Work Environment Workplace wellbeing has come a long way. With rising workplace stressors and the shift toward remote and hybrid work, organizations are realizing that prioritizing mental wellbeing improves job satisfaction, reduces burnout and leads to better business results. This shift has moved the corporate focus from being primarily on physical health to a more well-rounded approach that includes mental and emotional wellbeing. Studies such as the American Psychological Association’s Work in America survey highlight the increasing importance of mental wellbeing in the workplace.
Comments or feedback about Behavioral Health Alerts?
Related news or resources from your state or jurisdiction?
Please contact Rick Schwermer.
