Corrections

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Counties across the country are building collaborative partnerships to reduce the number of people with mental illnesses in their jails. Despite the progress that counties have made, they still face challenges with sharing information across multiple systems, limiting their success in identifying people involved in these systems, coordinating services and supervision, and tracking the impact of their efforts. 

Through These Doors (the domestic violence resource center in Cumberland County, Maine) and Maine Pre-Trial Services were awarded a prestigious grant from the MacArthur Foundation in October 2018 to improve collaboration between the two organizations to reach women who are incarcerated identifying as victims/survivors of domestic and sexual violence. This pilot project, Project Safe Release, is one of the first nationally to partner victim advocacy services and pre-trial services.

Mentally ill people are overrepresented in the criminal justice system. Law enforcement officers and jail staff must deal regularly with people who have schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other mental illnesses.

As criminal justice agencies grapple with the impacts of the opioid epidemic, an increasing number of correctional facilities are using medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in order to initiate or maintain treatment among individuals experiencing opioid use disorders. Despite the potential for MAT to reduce recidivism and overdose fatalities, many jails and prisons are reluctant to allow individuals to be on MAT medications due to diversion concerns.

Jurisdictions across the country face challenges in developing case plans that balance criminogenic and behavioral health needs. In response, The Council of State Governments Justice Center developed the web-based Collaborative Comprehensive Case Plans tool, which builds upon Adults with Behavioral Health Needs under Correctional Supervision, a systems-planning framework for prioritizing supervision and treatment services.

Learn how the Maricopa County, Arizona Adult Probation Department successfully expanded its implementation of Thinking for a Change (a cognitive behavioral intervention program with the National Institute of Corrections) through collaboration with external treatment providers who utilized Medicaid to pay for services. This webinar will focus on how they were able to implement evidence-based practices with fidelity, integrity, and continued quality improvement.

The webinar will cover:

For the overwhelming majority of people in federal and state prisons who will eventually reenter the community, finding employment plays a critical role in preventing recidivism. That said, it is not strictly job placement services that can make the difference between reincarceration and successful reentry; ensuring people who are returning to communities from incarceration have the skills to not only find, but also retain, jobs is also key.

The Prison Rape Elimination Act Targeted Implementation Planning and Support (PREA TIPS) Program is a new opportunity from Impact Justice, the non-profit organization that runs the PREA Resource Center, for locally operated small and medium jails, juvenile facilities, community confinement facilities, lockups, and tribal facilities to receive federal funds in the amount of $20,000 to $200,000 to assist in PREA implementation.

Join this webinar to learn more about PREA TIPS and how your facility or agency can apply.

In this webinar, officials from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance and the National Reentry Resource Center review the Second Chance Act Comprehensive Community-Based Adult Reentry grant program and its application process. These grants are designed to support community- and faith-based organizations in expanding on or implementing reentry programs that demonstrate strong partnerships with corrections, parole, probation, and law enforcement agencies or other reentry service providers.