NCJ Number
250543
Date Published
January 2017
Length
1 page
Annotation
This fact sheet reviews the features and benefits of the Federal Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP) for criminal justice agencies, mental health agencies, policymakers, and researchers.
Abstract
The goal of the JMHCP is to improve responses to and outcomes for individuals with mental illnesses or co-occurring mental health and substance-use disorders who come into contact with the justice system. Under the JMHCP, awards from $75,000 up to $300,000 are available for planning, training, partnerships, technology, and other activities that contribute to the program's goal. The JMHCP can benefit criminal justice agencies by facilitating and guiding partnerships between criminal justice agencies and mental health agencies to increase access to mental health services for persons coming in contact with the justice system. JMHCP can benefit mental health agencies by improving access to mentally ill persons being processed in the justice system. The JMHCP can benefit policymakers by facilitating the development and implementation of system-wide changes that improve services for mentally ill persons who are at risk for harming themselves and others. The JMHCP benefits researchers in their analysis of local data and the documentation of how people with mental health or co-occurring disorders move through the justice system, as well as researchers' evaluations of criminal justice-mental health programs. The two examples of JMHCP success stories involve crisis intervention teams in a Minnesota State prison system, as well as the development of a system-wide definition of mental illness that facilitated screening for mental illnesses at an Illinois county jail.