Council of State Governments / Eastern Regional Conference Criminal Justice / Mental Health Consensus Project

The Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), a component of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Department of Justice are working to coordinate the technical assistance provided through their respective grant programs: the Targeted Capacity Expansion for Jail Diversion Program and the Mental Health Courts Program.

Over the past year, this coordination has led to extensive collaboration between the technical assistance providers for these programs, the TAPA Center for Jail Diversion and the Criminal Justice / Mental Health Consensus Project. Staff from each organization meet quarterly, consult on assistance to specific jurisdictions, collaborate on special events and initiatives, and develop joint products of general use to the field.

Through this collaboration, several shared objectives have emerged that extend beyond the coordination of technical assistance. These include:

• Promoting Judicial Leadership: Judges are in a unique position to serve as catalysts for developing improved responses to people with mental illness in the criminal justice system. To promote the involvement of judges in jail diversion initiatives, TAPA and the Consensus Project have conducted a number of activities designed to bring together those judges who have been leaders on this issue, reach out to those who are not yet involved, and to facilitate collaboration between judges and other community stakeholders.
• Understanding Fiscal Implications: While it is clear that the costs resulting from the overrepresentation of individuals with mental illness in the justice system are a significant burden to states and localities, there is a need for further research demonstrating the cost effectiveness of jail diversion programs. TAPA and the Consensus Project have been leaders in developing and promoting such research and in helping policymakers, practitioners and advocates to use existing information to demonstrate the benefits of jail diversion. These themes were explored in depth during a recent Policy Forum co-sponsored by TAPA, CSG and the American Psychiatric Association (APA), where representatives of ten of APA's largest districts came together to discuss current research and how to use that information to promote increased funding for community-based mental health services for justice-involved individuals.
• Gathering Information on Diversion Programs Operating Across the U.S.: TAPA and CSG have worked to build and maintain a national listing of communities and organizations operating jail diversion programs. This assures knowledge of the most innovative models and activities in the field and enhances both organizations' capacity as information resources. TAPA and CSG, along with the National GAINS Center and NAMI, also maintain a website cataloguing existing mental health courts, with information provided by the courts themselves through the collaboratively developed Survey of Mental Health Courts.

Human Services Research Institute (HSRI)

The TAPA Center has developed a strong collaborative relationship with HSRI surrounding the development and pilot testing of HSRI's computerized Mental Health Jail Diversion Cost Simulation Planning Model.

This computerized budget simulation and resource allocation planning tool is designed to assist communities in planning for the implementing jail diversion for individuals with mental illness. This model was recently pilot tested in Chester County, Pennsylvania through a collaborative effort of HSRI, CSG and TAPA. A second pilot test is being planned by TAPA, HSRI and CSG.

Other collaborative partners of the TAPA Center and their resulting products include:

The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) "A Guide to Implementing Police-Based Diversion Programs for People with Mental Illness"

The Pretrial Services Resource Center (PSRC) "Non-Specialty First Appearance Court Models for Diverting Persons with Mental Illness: Alternatives to Mental Health Courts"

The National Mental Health Association (NMHA) "Jail Diversion for People with Mental Illness: Developing Supportive Community Coalitions"