Criminal Justice/Mental health Online Resources 2009

The following was provided by the Honorable Judge Steve Leifman:

CIT International Conference June 1-3, 2010 San Antonio

LAW ENFORCEMENT


Without adequate training and access to community-based mental health resources, law enforcement officers face tremendous obstacles in responding to people with mental illness. This section identifies resources for local law enforcement agencies looking to address mental health issues.

• A GAINS Center Guide for Implementing Police-Based Diversion Programs for People with Mental Illness: Summarizes what law enforcement agencies are doing across the country to improve their responses to people with mental illness and explores how these agencies have overcome barriers to create and maintain effective programs by collaborating with the mental health community.

http://gainscenter.samhsa.gov/pdfs/jail_diversion/PERF.pdf

• Consensus Project Report Recommendations: Offers detailed recommendations, endorsed by leaders representing law enforcement and mental health systems across the country, to help policymakers and practitioners improve outcomes of law enforcement encounters with people with mental illness.

http://consensusproject.org/topics/toc/ch-II

• Improving Responses to People with Mental Illnesses – The Essential Elements of a Specialized Law Enforcement-Based Program: Describes the 10 important program elements that jurisdictions should consider when planning, implementing or enhancing a specialized law enforcement–based response.

http://consensusproject.org/downloads/le-essentialelements.pdf

• Improving Responses to People with Mental Illnesses – Strategies for Effective Law Enforcement Training: Reviews common challenges to developing training for officers' interactions involving people with mental illnesses, and synthesizes the key lessons learned by jurisdictions that have implemented recruit or in-service programs. Discusses which individuals can best serve as trainers, how they can be identified, what preparation and support they require, what teaching techniques are most effective, and how planners can design training to improve outcomes from these encounters.

http://consensusproject.org/downloads/le-trgstrategies.pdf

• Law Enforcement/Mental Health Partnership Program: Describes a Consensus Project national initiative to provide resources for law enforcement leaders and their community partners to develop and enhance law enforcement/mental health programs. (Products are currently in development).

http://www.consensusproject.org/downloads/Lawenforcementonepager.pdf

• Navigating the Mental Health Maze – A Guide for Criminal Justice Personnel: Provides a crash course for criminal justice professionals whose understanding of mental illness and the mental health system may be limited.

http://consensusproject.org/mhcp/Navigating-MHC-Maze.pdf

• Online Program Profiles of Specialized Law Enforcement-Based Responses: Allows users to search law enforcement-based response programs in other communities across the country, and post questions directly to representatives of these programs.

http://consensusproject.org/programs

COURTS

People with mental illness appear repeatedly before judges and cycle in and out of jail for low-level crimes which are often the result of untreated mental illness. This section identifies resources for mental health courts or other court-based initiative targeting defendants with a mental illness.

• A Guide to Collecting Mental Health Court Outcome Data: Describes practical strategies for collecting data and evaluating the effectiveness of mental health courts. Written for mental health court practitioners and policymakers who want to measure the impact of court-based programs.

http://consensusproject.org/mhcp/MHC-Outcome-Data.pdf

• A Guide to Mental Health Court Design and Implementation: Explains critical issues such as determining whether to establish a mental health court, defining the target population, ensuring confidentiality, sustaining the court, and other key considerations.

http://consensusproject.org/mhcp/Guide-MHC-Design.pdf

• A Guide to the Role of Crime Victims in Mental Health Courts: Details how the nontraditional operations of mental health courts contribute to limited victims’ rights policies. The guide outlines how standard rights adhered to in these proceedings can be adapted for mental health court operations.

http://consensusproject.org/downloads/guidetocvinmhc.pdf

• Improving Responses to People with Mental Illnesses – Essential Elements of a Mental Health Court: Outlines 10 elements essential to mental health court design and implementation and provides background on why each element is important and how courts can adhere to it.

http://consensusproject.org/mhcp/essential.elements.pdf

• Judges Leadership Initiative (JLI): The JLI's mission is to support and enhance the efforts of judges who have already taken leadership roles on criminal justice/mental health issues, and promote leadership among more judges to address the overrepresentation of people with mental illnesses in the criminal justice system. The JLI provides resources designed to help adult criminal court judges improve their courts' responses to people with mental illnesses and encourage systemic change in the criminal justice and mental health systems.

http://consensusproject.org/JLI

• A Judges' Primer on Mental Illness, Addictive Disorders, Co-occurring Disorders, and Integrated Treatment: A one-page reference, written for judges, on mental illness, addictive disorders, co-occurring disorders, and integrated treatment.

http://consensusproject.org/downloads/judges-primer.pdf

• Justice, Treatment, and Cost – An Evaluation of the Fiscal Impact of Allegheny County Mental Health Court: Special courts that sentence people with mental illnesses who are convicted of misdemeanors and low-level felonies to treatment instead of jail have the potential to save taxpayers money, according to a RAND Corporation study conducted for the Council of State Governments Justice Center.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR439

• Mental Health Courts – A Primer for Policymakers and Practitioners: Presents an overview and history of mental health courts. It describes mental health courts’ goals and processes, how they differ from drug courts, research findings about their effectiveness, and resources for jurisdictions interested in starting a program.

http://consensusproject.org/mhcp/mhc-primer.pdf

• Navigating the Mental Health Maze – A Guide for Criminal Justice Personnel: Provides a crash course for criminal justice professionals whose understanding of mental illness and the mental health system may be limited.

http://consensusproject.org/mhcp/Navigating-MHC-Maze.pdf

• Online Program Profiles of Mental Health Courts and Other Court-Based Programs: Allows users to search through court-based programs and post questions directly to representatives of these programs.

http://consensusproject.org/programs

• Transforming Florida’s Mental Health System: Final report of the Mental Health Subcommittee of the Supreme Court of Florida. Includes detailed planning, leadership, financing, and service development recommendations to improve Florida’s public mental health system and prevent unnecessary justice system involvement.

http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/pub_info/documents/11-14-2007_Mental_Health_Report.pdf

CORRECTIONS

The number of people with mental illness who are in prison or jail, or under probation or parole supervision, has increased dramatically in recent years. This section identifies resources for initiatives targeting people with mental illness upon their admission to jail or prison, while they are incarcerated, and after they are released to the community to the supervision of probation and/or parole.

• Corrections/Mental Health Case Studies: Offers detailed and frank discussion of the successes and setbacks that corrections and mental health leaders in Kansas and Orange County, Florida faced as they worked together to improve the response to people with mental illnesses transitioning from jail or prison to the community.

http://consensusproject.org/updates/features/nic-case-study

• Collaboration Assessment Tool: Enables leaders in corrections or mental health organizations to assess their current level of collaboration and chart a course for improving collaboration in four categories: knowledge base, systems, services, and resources. consensusproject.org/assessment

• Consensus Project Report Recommendations: Offers detailed recommendations, endorsed by leaders representing jail, prison, community correction, and mental health systems across the country, to help policymakers and practitioners improve corrections-based responses to people with mental illness.

http://consensusproject.org/the_report/toc/ch-IV

• Re-Entry Policy Council Report Recommendations: Offers detailed recommendations for improving the likelihood of successful re-entry among adults with mental illness released from prison and jail.

http://www.reentrypolicy.org/reentry/Ch_B_Prison_and_Jail.aspx

• Navigating the Mental Health Maze: A Guide for Criminal Justice Personnel: Provides a crash course for criminal justice professionals whose understanding of mental illness and the mental health system may be limited.

http://consensusproject.org/mhcp/Navigating-MHC-Maze.pdf

• SSI/SSA and Medicaid: Provides background, relevant research, and case studies on promptly connecting people released from prison and jail, including those with mental illness, with Medicaid and other federal benefits.

http://www.reentrypolicy.org/reentry/Access_to_Federal_Benefits.aspx

• Online Program Profiles of Corrections/Mental Health Programs: Allows users to search through corrections/mental health programs in the following areas and post questions directly to representatives of these programs.

http://consensusproject.org/programs

MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY

In communities across the country, mental health advocates have been a driving force for change in improving responses to people with mental illness involved in the criminal justice system. But while advocates in these communities may be familiar with how the lives of individuals with mental illness in the criminal justice systems can be impacted, they may be less familiar with how to engage potential partners in these systems. The resource in this section provides strategies for advocates to reach out to representatives from criminal justice / mental health systems looking to address these issues.


The Advocacy Handbook: Recommends strategies to mental health advocates who want to improve outcomes for people with mental illness involved in the criminal justice system and are seeking to engage and focus policymakers and leaders in the criminal justice system.

http://consensusproject.org/advocacy

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Council of State Governments – Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project:

http://consensusproject.org/

Council of State Governments – Criminal Justice/Mental Health Information Network:

http://www.cjmh-infonet.org/

Council of State Governments – Re-Entry Policy Council:

http://www.reentrypolicy.org/reentry/default.aspx

Criminal Justice, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse Technical Assistance Center (TA Center) at the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute (FMHI), University of South Florida: http://www.floridatac.org/

Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF): http://www.myflorida.com/cf_web

Florida Partners in Crisis (PIC): http://www.flpic.org/

Florida Substance Abuse and Mental Health Corporation: http://samhcorp.org/

Florida’s Children First (FCF): http://floridaschildrenfirst.org/

Mental Health Consumer Providers – A Guide for Clinical Staff: http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR584/

Miami-Dade County Grand Jury Report – Mental Illness and the Criminal Justice System: A Recipe for Disaster/A Prescription for Improvement: http://miamisao.com/publications/grand_jury/2000s/gj2004s.pdf

Miami-Dade County Grand Jury Report – Shifting the Focus On Treating Mental Illness: A Common “Cents” Approach: http://miamisao.com/publications/grand_jury/2000s/gj2007f.pdf

Miami-Dade County Mayor’s Mental Health Task Force – Final Report: http://www.miamidade.gov/mayor/library/03.29.07-Miami-Dade-County-MMHTF-Final-Report.pdf

National Alliance on Mental Illness: http://www.nami.org/

National GAINS Center /TAPA Center for Jail Diversion: http://gainscenter.samhsa.gov/

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA): http://www.samhsa.gov/

- Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS): http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/cmhs

- Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT): http://csat.samhsa.gov/

- Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP): http://prevention.samhsa.gov/

SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP): http://nrepp.samhsa.gov/

CIT International Conference - Deep In the Heart of Texas !!!

Crisis Intervention Team International Conference June 1 - 3, 2010

Join us for the CIT International Conference showcasing innovative programs that promote collaboration between law enforcement, mental health and advocacy systems serving the mental health population. United States Attorney General Eric Holder will provide a video introduction to this exciting conference to be followed by the keynote speaker, the Honorable Steve Leifman, Special Advisor on Criminal Justice and Mental Health for the Supreme Court of Florida.


Over 100 presentations will provide usable information that can be applied and utilized to create a standard of excellence in community policing and strengthening the public safety net. This year’s conference is being offered for the first time on an international level to meet the needs of providers and users of services around the globe!

Houston PD's Department's Chronic Consumer Stabilization Initiative

HPD a forward-thinking leader in mental health By GEORGE PARNHAM

HOUSTON CHRONICLE March 25, 2010, 8:30PM

As our nation continues to debate the merits of federal health care reform, Houstonians should realize that we have our own health care debate happening right here at home. It involves the people living with mental illness who cycle in and out of our publicly funded emergency rooms, jails and mental health crisis facilities with little hope of stabilization.

While a part of this problem involves a basic lack of access to mental health services, many of these individuals, called “frequent fliers” by law enforcement and medical personnel who have constant contact with them, have simply been receiving the wrong kinds of services. They are victims of our state's crisis-driven system, which provides temporary and limited emergency care for people experiencing a mental health crisis but often fails to provide ongoing community-based services that keep them stabilized and out of expensive acute-care facilities.

While this is a problem faced throughout our state, Houstonians should know that several of our local leaders at the county, city, state and federal levels have stepped up and taken leading roles in addressing this serious public health issue. These individuals, too numerous to name here, should be commended.

An example of this local leadership is the Houston Police Department's Chronic Consumer Stabilization Initiative, or CCSI. HPD's mental health unit, in collaboration with the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County and the Houston Department of Health and Human Services, implemented the CCSI as a pilot program in February 2009. The program provides intensive case management for the 30 individuals with a serious and persistent mental illness who have the most frequent encounters with HPD, and its main goal is to divert these chronic individuals away from their routine and repetitive encounters with law enforcement, provide them with opportunities to lead a more stabilized life and reduce excessive calls for service to the 911 system.

HPD recently issued its final report of the six-month CCSI pilot. Involuntary commitments for the 30 people were reduced by 76.4 percent while offense reports and calls for service involving these 30 decreased by 67.3 percent at a total cost of less than $3,900 per person. In contrast, an average stay at the Harris County Psychiatric Center, which is about 10 days, costs about $3,525 per person. In addition, the number of hours HPD officers spent dealing with this particular group was reduced by almost one-third, meaning officers were better able to deal with other calls for service and criminal activity.

It does not take either a mental health or law enforcement expert to know that these results are impressive. While HPD has long been a leader on mental health issues with its Crisis Intervention Team and Crisis Intervention Response Team programs, the CCSI is different in that it is not a reactive program. CCSI prevents police encounters with people with serious mental illness in the first place, and it provides these people the services they need to have a real chance of leading stable and productive lives that include fewer expensive crisis episodes. This kind of proven and effective program is what many of us have been asking for here in Houston and throughout the state for quite some time.

The city of Houston deserves recognition for funding and implementing such an innovative program. Continuing and expanding the CCSI program would be an additional accomplishment that all Houstonians could be proud of in the future, and I encourage our local leaders to make this a priority for the city.

Parnham is a criminal defense attorney and mental health advocate. He and his wife, Mary, founded the Yates Children Memorial Fund with Mental Health America of Greater Houston to promote women's mental health education.

Improving Responses to People with Mental Illness: Tailoring Law Enforcement Responses

Improving Responses to People with Mental Illnesses Tailoring Law Enforcement Initiatives to Individual Jurisdictions

A report prepared by the Council of State Governments Justice Center and the Police Executive Research Forum for the Bureau of Justice Assistance Office of Justice Programs U.S. Department of Justice

Melissa Reuland   
 
Law Enforcement: Improving Response

Early Study re CIT Training - After the training, officers reported improved attitudes

Brief Reports: Crisis Intervention Team Training: Changes in Knowledge, Attitudes, and Stigma Related to Schizophrenia

Michael T. Compton, M.D., M.P.H., Michelle L. Esterberg, M.P.H., Robin McGee, M.P.H., Raymond J. Kotwicki, M.D., M.P.H. and Janet R. Oliva, Ph.D.

OBJECTIVE: Crisis intervention team (CIT) training provides police officers with knowledge and skills to improve their responses to individuals with mental illnesses. This study determined changes in knowledge, attitudes, and social distance related to schizophrenia among police officers after CIT training. METHODS: A survey was administered to 159 officers immediately before and after a 40-hour CIT training program in Georgia. Pre- and posttest data were gathered from surveys taken between December 2004 and July 2005. RESULTS: After the training, officers reported improved attitudes regarding aggressiveness among individuals with schizophrenia, became more supportive of treatment programs for schizophrenia, evidenced greater knowledge about schizophrenia, and reported less social distance toward individuals with schizophrenia. CONCLUSIONS: This study supports the hypothesis that an educational program for law enforcement officers may reduce stigmatizing attitudes toward persons with schizophrenia.


Psychiatric Serv 57:1199-1202, August 2006
doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.57.8.1199
© 2006 American Psychiatric Association

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CIT International Conference - Presentation Spotlight Series

Presentation Spotlight Series - Come to the Conference and see todays spotlight presentation:

Title: The Wilco Way…Collaborative Emergency Mental Health Response

Abstract: This session will use three actual psychiatric emergency incidents to demonstrate the operation of our award winning Mobile Outreach Team (MOT). Each case will highlight different aspects of our collaborative approach – joint CIT and MOT response, field assessments, expediting psychiatric admissions, the use of technology, telemedicine, working with EMS and 911 dispatchers, facilitating respite care, and follow-up services. This multi-media presentation will include 911 tapes and a demonstration of the department’s web-based patient database. Administrative concerns such as flex funding, logistics, data collection, and multi-jurisdictional and interdepartmental collaboration will also be discussed. Over the past four years, the Williamson County Mobile Outreach Team and Williamson County Sheriff’s Office Crisis Intervention Team have saved our county government over four million dollars by diverting mentally ill persons from jail and hospital emergency rooms to clinically appropriate services. Learn how your department can achieve the same in this practical case driven session.

Presentor: Annie Burwell currently serves as the Mental Health Director for Williamson County and leads the nationally recognized Williamson County Mobile Outreach Team. This hardworking team provides emergency mental health services in conjunction with law enforcement, the local mental health authority, and EMS. Annie received her social work degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Her experience in the mental health field includes: psychiatric acute care with children; experiential therapy with adolescents, with an emphasis on backpacking and challenge courses; school based mental health services, and crisis intervention and management. Ms. Burwell has significant training in grief, loss, and trauma interventions, and is a certified hostage negotiator. She serves on many community boards including the Williamson County Commissioners’ Court Mental Health Task Force, and was a co-recipient of the 2002 Harry Gold Award, the 2008 Heroes in the Fight Award, and the 2009 Exemplary Program Award from the Texas Corrections Association.


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