Faith-Based Organizations

APPA staff, Nan Benally was invited to present a 75 minute plenary session. The emphasis of the summit was on building strong community partnerships and programs to enhance successful reentry and achieve recidivism reduction. The session was titled, "2021 Virtual Mat-Su Reentry Summit."

TIRW-AK was a series of virtual modules facilitated by national experts and delivered to members of 8 Alaska native tribes and villages from March 16-18, 2021. Teams were comprised of tribal court specialists, vocational rehabilitation counselors, family contact facilitators, reentry coalition coordinators, crisis clinicians and council members, and others. Teams had to apply, be chosen, and complete several pre-workshop assignments.

A call with all FY 19-20 mentors and mentees. Our mentor site, Philadelphia PAD, will be presenting on "Implementing First Responder Diversion Programs: Trial, Error, & Adaptation."

These calls are an opportunity to check-in with us at CHJ, meet other grantees, and learn about common questions we are asked by diversion programs.

States and communities around the country are actively developing local crisis systems to improve access to critical community-based care and services and ultimately reduce arrests and incarceration for people with behavioral health needs. But despite these efforts, communities continue to face gaps that hamper their ability to fully realize potential impacts. The passage of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act provides state and local governments with a desperately needed infusion of funding to both meet the ongoing challenges of the pandemic and address key funding gaps.

Monthly Status:
Throughout May, CSG Justice Center staff finalized the close-out memo, which gives an overview of the TA work conducted in Minnesota and the adjustments made to the project based on the changing fiscal outlook in Minnesota. The state went from projecting a deficit as a result of the pandemic in the fall of 2020 to a surplus by February 2021 after an infusion of federal funding.

Monthly Status:

On March 18, CSG Justice Center staff convened the Delivery System Standards and Funding Policy Working Group designed to develop a statewide base level of supervision services. Recently initiated by DOC Commissioner, this group consists of five representatives from DOC, MACCAC, and MACPO. Group members reviewed the two-pager entitled “Protecting Investments in Community-Based Supervision” prior to the meeting where the document was vetted.

In February, CSG Justice Center staff developed a document that formally outlined the policy recommendations developed from the working group to improve the supervision system, strengthen supervision practices, and modernize supervision funding.

In January, CSG Justice Center staff met with the working group twice. At the meeting on January 7, CSG Justice Center staff proposed three categories under which policy recommendations should be developed: improve the supervision system, strengthen supervision practices, and modernize supervision funding. The working group agreed to move forward with these categories and offered suggestions for the types of policies that could fall under each one.

The LE-MH Learning Sites provide assistance to jurisdictions on the following topics: Case Management, Co-Response, CITs, Crisis Call Response, Crisis Call Diversion, Trainings, Funding, Info-Sharing, Data & Analysis, Policies & Procedures, Collaboration, Homeless Outreach Team, Substance Use, and Leadership.