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Criminal Justice Advisory Board
About Criminal Justice National Projects - Criminal Justice / Mental Health Consensus Project National Projects - Re-Entry Policy Council National Projects - Justice Reinvestment National Projects - CSG Public Safety / Justice Task Force Past Projects Publications |
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Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project Project Status: Active Project Documents:
Project Overview The Criminal Justice / Mental Health Consensus Project is an unprecedented, national effort to help local, state, and federal policymakers and criminal justice and mental health professionals improve the response to people with mental illness who become involved in, or are at risk of involvement in, the criminal justice system. Coordinated by CSG/ERC's Criminal Justice Program, the Consensus Project has brought together staff and members from numerous organizations and associations from across the criminal justice and mental health system. The landmark Consensus Project Report, which was authored by CSG and its project partners, reflects the results of a series of meetings among 100 of the most respected criminal justice and mental health practitioners in the country. Since the release of the report in June 2002, the Consensus Project has continued to promote practical, flexible approaches to this issue through educational presentations, technical assistance, and the dissemination of information about programs, research, and policy developments in the field. The Consensus Project Web site, www.consensusproject.org, provides access to the Project Report, information about relevant research, statistics, and Web-based resources, and a searchable database of programs from around the country, which allows visitors to communicate with program administrators online. In addition, it highlights news from around the field, including new studies, legislation, and other initiatives. For more information contact Matt Schwarzfeld. Download the 12-page Project Overview Recent Developments CSG and partners to develop Advocacy Handbook The Advocacy Handbook is a tool for advocates working to improve outcomes for people with mental illness in the criminal justice system. The handbook reflects a shared effort among the National Mental Health Association (NMHA), NAMI (the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill), the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD), the Mental Health Courts Program The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) has designated the Council of State Government's Consensus Project (CSG), as the technical assistance provider for the Mental Health Courts Program (MHCP) In this capacity, CSG provides a wide range of services to court-based initiatives that improve the response to people with mental illness including: To facilitate more efficient and effective peer-to-peer assistance among mental health courts, CSG will establish and coordinate a network of learning sites. These learning sites will provide a valuable resource for jurisdictions interested in developing and refining mental health courts (MHCs) (including current BJA grantee courts), while highlighting the accomplishments of some of the longer-running programs. Furthermore, these learning sites will have the opportunity to become leaders in the field by identifying areas where they need improvement and working with expert consultants to advance those areas. For more information on the Learning Sites Initiative click here.
Funding for the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act The appropriations bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives for the Department of Justice (HR 2862) authorized a $50 million grant program for the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act, legislation which would help state and local governments improve collaboration between criminal justice and mental health organizations. Rep. Wolf, Chairman of the House Science-State-Justice-Commerce (SSJC) Appropriations Subcommittee, created a number of "soft earmarks" for hundreds of programs/projects, of which the Mentally Ill Offender Act is one. The Senate appropriations bill for the U.S. Department of Justice (HR 2862) has been reported out of committee. Currently, the bill does not include funding for this program but there is support from Senator Mike DeWine (R-OH) and Chairman Wolf to obtain funding for the bill in conference. Project Support Bureau of Justice Assistance |
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