Military

In recognition of National Recovery Month, OJP is pleased to host a webinar today featuring OJP’s Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Katharine Sullivan, and Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Jim Carroll, two agencies that have helped make Recovery Month a year long, committed endeavor. OJP and ONDCP will discuss their efforts to continue promoting the adoption of medication assisted treatment to treat opioid use disorders in community and corrections settings.

Some veterans struggle with substance use and mental health disorders as well as harm to self and/or others. Many of these men and women are within the justice system in jails and prisons. Understanding their complex and unique issues is essential for both justice treatment and security staff. Having a working knowledge of the military culture, a trauma-informed and military-informed approach to services increase the likelihood of engagement in treatment. Units that serve only veterans within correctional facilities use peers as agents of change.

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.

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.

A virtual launch event with a panel discussion in partnership with BJA and the University of Cincinnati to announce a conference that will take place in October. Taking the Call: A National Conference Exploring Innovative Community Responder Models is examining how communities across the U.S. are launching new responses to emergency calls and redefining who answers calls for service involving MH or substance use crises, homelessness, "quality-of-life" issues, and other low-level situations. Taking the Call will bring people together from across the U.S.

In this webinar, representatives from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance and The Council of State Governments Justice Center reviewed the?FY 2021 Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program | Bureau of Justice Assistance (ojp.gov)?application process.

In this webinar, representatives from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance and The Council of State Governments Justice Center reviewed the BJA FY 21 Connect and Protect: Law Enforcement Behavioral Health Responses Solicitation application process.

A growing concern across the U.S. is how jurisdictions can improve their police and community responses to people with behavioral health needs. While some jurisdictions have established partnerships between their police departments and behavioral health system counterparts, many are still struggling to effectively develop cross-system responses that can benefit the people impacted most by these systems.

An increasing number of jurisdictions are exploring ways to expand and/or improve their crisis system responses when interacting with people experiencing a mental health and/or substance use crisis. One option includes crisis stabilization units (CSUs) or similarly designed models. While CSUs are a great diversion opportunity, implementation can be very challenging. Having buy-in from referral sources, particularly law enforcement agencies, can help strengthen this critical diversion option while improving the jurisdiction's overall crisis response system.

CSG Justice Center staff hosted the Collaborate, Train, & Enage: Diverting People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) webinar. This webinar discussed best practices that localities can implement to improve cross-system collaboration, family engagement, identification, and accessibility of services that meet the needs of people with IDD. Speakers described how consistent evaluation of diversion outcomes assists with sustaining successful efforts and the creation of action plans to address gaps.