November 2011 e-newsletter
 |
| From left to right: Lieutenant Kristen Roman, Congressman Dave Reichert (R-WA), Officer Rebecca Skillern, and Officer Ron Bruno |
Washington D.C. -- The Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Council of State Governments Justice Center have identified police departments in six cities as national models leading the way in identifying safe and effective responses to people with mental illnesses. In November, representatives from these law enforcement/mental health "learning sites" in the Houston (TX), Salt Lake City (UT), and Madison (WI) police departments visited Capitol Hill to brief key congressional leaders on the progress they have made.
The six law enforcement/mental health learning sites collectively reflect the range of strategies a law enforcement agency might consider when developing a collaborative initiative to address the needs of individuals with mental illnesses in their community. As centers of peer-to-peer learning and support, learning site personnel are committed to providing guidance to agencies in other jurisdictions that are interested in creating or expanding their own specialized policing responses. To learn more about the learning sites program,
click here.
Officer Ron Bruno from the Salt Lake City Police Department, Officer Rebecca Skillern from the Houston Police Department, and Lieutenant Kristen Roman from the Madison Police Department discussed with legislators the critical role that law enforcement officers play in responding to people with mental illnesses. As first responders, officers are the first point of contact for people with mental illnesses who come into contact with the criminal justice system.
The six national learning sites are made possible by the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act (MIOTCRA). Signed into law in 2004 with overwhelming bipartisan support, MIOTCRA created the
Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP) , which supports states and counties that are designing and implementing collaborative efforts between criminal justice and mental health systems. The program was created to address the overrepresentation of serious mental illnesses among jail and prison populations, which can range as high as 14.5 percent for men and 31 percent for women. State and local governments use JMHCP grants to design criminal justice systems better able to respond to people with a mental illness.
ANNOUNCEMENTS On Monday, November 17, 2011, Congress passed the "minibus" appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2012, which included $9 million in funding for the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act (MIOTCRA).
Signed into law in 2004, MIOTCRA created the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP), which provides resources to help law enforcement, courts, and corrections agencies, as well as mental health providers, better address the needs of people with mental illnesses who come into contact with the criminal justice system. To date, 220 grants have been awarded to state and local jurisdictions. To learn more about the JMHCP,
click here.
The minibus, a consolidated appropriations bill for several agencies including the Department of Justice, provides $2.2 billion for state and local criminal justice programs, including:
- $9 million for MIOTCRA grant programs;
- $63 million for Second Chance Act grant programs;
- $470 million for Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants;
- $6 million for comprehensive criminal justice reform and recidivism reduction efforts by states, also known as "justice reinvestment;"
- $35 million for drug courts;
- $10 million for residential substance abuse treatment programs;
- $20 million for Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act grant programs; and
- $12.5 million for prison rape prevention and prosecution and other programs.
In addition, the package contains a continuing resolution that funds other federal operations until December 16, 2011 -- or until Congress completes the remaining nine FY 2012 appropriations bills.
To read the bill text approved by Congress,
click here.
To read the conference report,
click here.
In FY 2011, BJA received 279 applications for funding under the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP), only 40 of which were awarded due to limited funding. In FY 2012, JMHCP faces further reductions to its appropriation. The peer review process in FY 2011 yielded a high number of qualified and competitive applications, many of which remain unfunded. The peer review process, while serving a valuable function in assisting BJA staff in making funding decisions, is also costly and is funded with JMHCP program funds. By relying on the peer review results of FY 2011 and forgoing a new competitive application process including peer review in FY 2012, BJA is able to maximize the number of awards made to the field. Therefore, BJA will not be issuing a FY 2012 JMHCP solicitation and instead will recommend FY 2012 JMHCP awards from the long list of unfunded, qualified, and highly competitive FY 2011 applications.
NAMI, the
University of Memphis, the
International Association of Chiefs of Police, and
CIT International are partnering to develop a model crisis intervention team (CIT) curriculum. The curriculum-development project, which is funded by the
Bureau of Justice Assistance, will consist of a national survey of local CIT programs and includes representatives from diverse stakeholder groups. According to the project's coordinators, the model curriculum "will not be a rigid and detailed prescription, but rather a summary of the national consensus among thousands of CIT programs about the topics that should appear in the training, the time dedicated to them, and the objectives of each topic."
The groups are currently collecting existing curricula and surveying officers who have received CIT training. To take a survey and participate in this effort,
click here.
In NAMI's
State Mental Health Cuts: The Continuing Crisis, the authors found that states have cut more than $1.6 billion in general funds from their state mental health agency budgets for mental health services since FY2009, a period during which demand for such services increased significantly. These cuts led to significant reductions in both hospital and community services for vulnerable individuals with serious mental illnesses. The report provides an update on NAMI's March 2011 report on the same subject. To read the recent report (and for access to the original report),
click here.
CORRECTIONS In an
article in the October issue of the Consensus Project e-newsletter about the SAMHSA's GAINS Center for Behavioral Health and Justice Transformation, we erroneously referred to Policy Research Associates (which oversees the center) as "Public Research Associates." The mistake has been corrected on our website, and we apologize for any confusion it may have caused.
CJ/MH IN THE NEWS Articles from newspapers around the country covering issues at the intersection of mental health and criminal justice can be found on the Consensus Project website. Some recent headlines are posted below. 11/27/11 — "Over the last two decades, changes in state policy and big cuts in funding for community mental health care have pushed hundreds of thousands of mentally ill people into county jails and state prisons."
11/25/11 — "The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections reckons that 18 percent of inmates in the state suffer from a mental illness. They track in and out of courtrooms, jails and prisons, racking up time and costs. In some cases, the illnesses may have gone undiagnosed or untreated. In others, the offenders may have gone off their medications. Whatever the reason, the illnesses trigger decisions and behaviors that entwine the offenders in a criminal justice system not set up to handle mental-health issues."
11/15/11 — To this day, Sheriff Adrian Garcia says his encounter with Jerome as that rookie in law enforcement still haunts him. Had he and his fellow officers been trained in approaching psychotic individuals, would things have turned out differently for Jerome?
11/13/11 — "An internal review of conditions inside North Carolina's Central Prison found that inmates with serious mental illnesses were neglected by staff and locked away in fetid cells."
11/13/11 — "Mike Bayer's life was spinning out of control. Struggling with bipolar disorder, he had fallen into a severe drug habit as he followed a trail that led him into trouble with the law."
11/11/11 — "Twelve veterans whose service spanned from Vietnam to Iraq received their graduation certificates from Mansfield Municipal Judge Jerry Ault last month. They were graduating from one of Ohio's first veterans courts. WKSU's M. L. Schultze has more on the efforts to recognize that – as with many aspects of life – vets have needs that don't always fit with the traditional justice system."
11/11/11 — "Police officers often are called to scenes without knowing what they will encounter. Their lives can depend on how well they communicate and relate to people experiencing a crisis."
11/10/11 — "Mayor Mike Bloomberg launched a steering committee in September to research the mentally ill inmates incarcerated in New York City jails and establish the most effective and efficient practices, policies, and treatment options for this population across the criminal justice and mental health continuum."
11/10/11 — "More than 90 people - including authorities from Schuylkill and Berks counties - learned more about serious mental illness Wednesday during a symposium at Penn State Schuylkill campus."
11/9/11 — "The mechanisms for dealing with mental health crises in Park County are lacking, according to experts, advocates and local officials."
11/27/11 — "Over the last two decades, changes in state policy and big cuts in funding for community mental health care have pushed hundreds of thousands of mentally ill people into county jails and state prisons."
11/25/11 — "The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections reckons that 18 percent of inmates in the state suffer from a mental illness. They track in and out of courtrooms, jails and prisons, racking up time and costs. In some cases, the illnesses may have gone undiagnosed or untreated. In others, the offenders may have gone off their medications. Whatever the reason, the illnesses trigger decisions and behaviors that entwine the offenders in a criminal justice system not set up to handle mental-health issues."
11/15/11 — To this day, Sheriff Adrian Garcia says his encounter with Jerome as that rookie in law enforcement still haunts him. Had he and his fellow officers been trained in approaching psychotic individuals, would things have turned out differently for Jerome?
11/13/11 — "An internal review of conditions inside North Carolina's Central Prison found that inmates with serious mental illnesses were neglected by staff and locked away in fetid cells."
11/13/11 — "Mike Bayer's life was spinning out of control. Struggling with bipolar disorder, he had fallen into a severe drug habit as he followed a trail that led him into trouble with the law."
11/11/11 — "Twelve veterans whose service spanned from Vietnam to Iraq received their graduation certificates from Mansfield Municipal Judge Jerry Ault last month. They were graduating from one of Ohio's first veterans courts. WKSU's M. L. Schultze has more on the efforts to recognize that – as with many aspects of life – vets have needs that don't always fit with the traditional justice system."
11/11/11 — "Police officers often are called to scenes without knowing what they will encounter. Their lives can depend on how well they communicate and relate to people experiencing a crisis."
11/10/11 — "Mayor Mike Bloomberg launched a steering committee in September to research the mentally ill inmates incarcerated in New York City jails and establish the most effective and efficient practices, policies, and treatment options for this population across the criminal justice and mental health continuum."
11/10/11 — "More than 90 people - including authorities from Schuylkill and Berks counties - learned more about serious mental illness Wednesday during a symposium at Penn State Schuylkill campus."
11/9/11 — "The mechanisms for dealing with mental health crises in Park County are lacking, according to experts, advocates and local officials."
In FY 2011, BJA received 279 applications for funding under the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP), only 40 of which were awarded due to limited funding. In FY 2012, JMHCP faces further reductions to its appropriation. The peer review process in FY 2011 yielded a high number of qualified and competitive applications, many of which remain unfunded. The peer review process, while serving a valuable function in assisting BJA staff in making funding decisions, is also costly and is funded with JMHCP program funds. By relying on the peer review results of FY 2011 and forgoing a new competitive application process including peer review in FY 2012, BJA is able to maximize the number of awards made to the field. Therefore, BJA will not be issuing a FY 2012 JMHCP solicitation and instead will recommend FY 2012 JMHCP awards from the long list of unfunded, qualified, and highly competitive FY 2011 applications.
NAMI, the
University of Memphis, the
International Association of Chiefs of Police, and
CIT International are partnering to develop a model crisis intervention team (CIT) curriculum. The curriculum-development project, which is funded by the
Bureau of Justice Assistance, will consist of a national survey of local CIT programs and includes representatives from diverse stakeholder groups. According to the project's coordinators, the model curriculum "will not be a rigid and detailed prescription, but rather a summary of the national consensus among thousands of CIT programs about the topics that should appear in the training, the time dedicated to them, and the objectives of each topic."
The groups are currently collecting existing curricula and surveying officers who have received CIT training. To take a survey and participate in this effort,
click here.
In NAMI's
State Mental Health Cuts: The Continuing Crisis, the authors found that states have cut more than $1.6 billion in general funds from their state mental health agency budgets for mental health services since FY2009, a period during which demand for such services increased significantly. These cuts led to significant reductions in both hospital and community services for vulnerable individuals with serious mental illnesses. The report provides an update on NAMI's March 2011 report on the same subject. To read the recent report (and for access to the original report),
click here.
On Monday, November 17, 2011, Congress passed the "minibus" appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2012, which included $9 million in funding for the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act (MIOTCRA).
Signed into law in 2004, MIOTCRA created the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP), which provides resources to help law enforcement, courts, and corrections agencies, as well as mental health providers, better address the needs of people with mental illnesses who come into contact with the criminal justice system. To date, 220 grants have been awarded to state and local jurisdictions. To learn more about the JMHCP,
click here.
The minibus, a consolidated appropriations bill for several agencies including the Department of Justice, provides $2.2 billion for state and local criminal justice programs, including:
- $9 million for MIOTCRA grant programs;
- $63 million for Second Chance Act grant programs;
- $470 million for Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants;
- $6 million for comprehensive criminal justice reform and recidivism reduction efforts by states, also known as "justice reinvestment;"
- $35 million for drug courts;
- $10 million for residential substance abuse treatment programs;
- $20 million for Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act grant programs; and
- $12.5 million for prison rape prevention and prosecution and other programs.
In addition, the package contains a continuing resolution that funds other federal operations until December 16, 2011 -- or until Congress completes the remaining nine FY 2012 appropriations bills.
To read the bill text approved by Congress,
click here.
To read the conference report,
click here.
|
| From left to right: Lieutenant Kristen Roman, Congressman Dave Reichert (R-WA), Officer Rebecca Skillern, and Officer Ron Bruno |
Washington D.C. -- The Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Council of State Governments Justice Center have identified police departments in six cities as national models leading the way in identifying safe and effective responses to people with mental illnesses. In November, representatives from these law enforcement/mental health "learning sites" in the Houston (TX), Salt Lake City (UT), and Madison (WI) police departments visited Capitol Hill to brief key congressional leaders on the progress they have made.
The six law enforcement/mental health learning sites collectively reflect the range of strategies a law enforcement agency might consider when developing a collaborative initiative to address the needs of individuals with mental illnesses in their community. As centers of peer-to-peer learning and support, learning site personnel are committed to providing guidance to agencies in other jurisdictions that are interested in creating or expanding their own specialized policing responses. To learn more about the learning sites program,
click here.
Officer Ron Bruno from the Salt Lake City Police Department, Officer Rebecca Skillern from the Houston Police Department, and Lieutenant Kristen Roman from the Madison Police Department discussed with legislators the critical role that law enforcement officers play in responding to people with mental illnesses. As first responders, officers are the first point of contact for people with mental illnesses who come into contact with the criminal justice system.
The six national learning sites are made possible by the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act (MIOTCRA). Signed into law in 2004 with overwhelming bipartisan support, MIOTCRA created the
Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP) , which supports states and counties that are designing and implementing collaborative efforts between criminal justice and mental health systems. The program was created to address the overrepresentation of serious mental illnesses among jail and prison populations, which can range as high as 14.5 percent for men and 31 percent for women. State and local governments use JMHCP grants to design criminal justice systems better able to respond to people with a mental illness.
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