Bronx, NY

The Bronx Borough President’s Office, in partnership with EAC-TASC, RTI, has been awarded funds to expand the target population of the Bronx Mental Health Court beyond the current focus on felony defendants.   The program will serve adults with serious mental illness charged with misdemeanor offenses and who meet the program’s eligibility by diverting them into a full compendium of community services.  Given the reduced leverage the criminal justice system holds over misdemeanor offenders (as opposed to individuals charged with felony offenses), the program will focus on promoting access and retention by providing each participant with the opportunity to develop Wellness Self-Management and Recovery skills.   In addition, the program will provide each participant with intensive case management services and linkage to integrated mental health and substance abuse treatment, supported housing, work training and education, entitlement enrollment and peer support. 

Virginia

Montgomery County, Virginia has been awarded TCE funding to operate a multi-county, multi-jurisdictional rural post-booking jail diversion program for persons with mental illness.  This effort will be known as the Bridge Program and will serve residents of the New River Valley region of Southwest Virginia, comprising of Montgomery, Pulaski, Giles and the City of Radford.  The Bridge Program is a partnership between the Mental Health Association of the New River Valley, the Community Corrections Pre-Trial Release program and the Montgomery County Department of Social Services.  The Bridge Team of 2 case managers, under the auspices of the Mental Health Association of the New River Valley, in conjunction with Community Connections, will provide initial identification and screening at the Montgomery County Jail and the New River Valley Regional Jail.  Individuals with mental illness who are “charge appropriate” will be offered diversion to community based services including Assertive Community Treatment,  Supported Employment and gender based trauma recovery services.

Yolo County, CA

Building on the success of the California MIOCR-funded Project NOVA, the Yolo County Department of Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Services has been awarded TCE-funds to establish Project AIM (Alternatives to Incarceration for the Mentally Ill).  Project AIM will divert non-violent mentally-ill offenders from the Yolo County Jail and provide linkages to treatment services using a research-validated interdisciplinary team approach.  Team members will include an alcohol/drug specialist, psychiatric nurse, psychiatrist, probation officer, and a supervising mental health clinician.  Project AIM will be implemented in collaboration with the Yolo County Probation Department, District Attorney, Public Defender, Sheriff’s Department, Veterans’ Services Administration, , Department of Employment and Social Services and Public Guardian, as well as NAMI. In addition to the intensive case management services previous described, Project AIM will connect participants to a wide range of services and providers, including outpatient and inpatient mental health and substance abuse treatment, faith-based recovery organizations, peer support, gender-based trauma recovery and medication management.

San Francisco, CA

The San Francisco Sheriff's Department (SFSD), in collaboration with the San Francisco Department of Public Health, the Public Defender's Office, Citywide Case Management Services and a number of additional community-based service providers, will utilize their TCE-funding to implement the Women's Integrated Skills and Health (WISH) Project. The goal of the WISH Project is to expand access to jail diversion for women with serious mental illness by increasing women’s participation in the San Francisco Behavioral Health Court (BHC) through the addition of an additional case manager on the Citywide Forensic Team to work exclusively with women. WISH clients will receive mental health and substance abuse treatment, trauma-recovery, expressive arts therapy and peer support services. They will also have access to the SFSD's Women's Re-Entry Center, which offers a one-stop shop for food, clothing, computer and phone access, as well as counseling and assistance with housing.

Lafayette, LA

Using TCE funds, the Louisiana Office of Mental Health, in collaboration with the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Department (LPSD), will implement the Fostering Recovery, Education and Empowerment (FREE) Program. The FREE Program will work within the LPSD's STOP pre-trial release program to divert individuals with serious mental illness charged with non-violent offenses. Three intensive case managers, one licensed social worker, and one part-time psychiatrist will provide treatment services and linkages to other services in the community. The case managers will be housed at the LPSD's Community Corrections Center, where they will be able to make use of other STOP services including intensive outpatient substance abuse treatment services, GED and Computer classes, domestic violence education, and life skills training. A number of community-based providers have pledged their support to the FREE program and will assist in getting clients access to housing and other services.

Cook Co (Chicago), IL

The Cook County Community Reintegration Collaborative represents the efforts of mental health and criminal justice stakeholders to expand existing services for individuals with mental illness who are involved in the justice system by developing a post booking jail diversion program linked to the existing Cook Co. mental health court.  This partnership will unite Cermak Mental Health Services to screen eligible individuals incarcerated in Cook County Jail, TASC to provide assessment, bridging and case management services to individuals eligible for the program and Thresholds to provide ACT services for diverted individuals who require the intensive supports that ACT provides.  In addition, individuals served by the Thresholds ACT team will receive Integrated Dual Disorder Treatment (IDDT).  The grant expands the capacity of an already functioning high fidelity ACT team which has been trained in and utilizes IDDT concepts and programming.  In addition, TCE funds will assist in the Crisis Intervention Team training of 250 Chicago Police Officers, who will then provide specialist support in community crises and pre-booking diversion to community services.  The proposed target population includes individuals who participate in the Cook County Mental Health Court and individuals on the mental health caseload of the Cook County Probation Department.