June 2011 e-newsletter
FEATURES
Judges and Psychiatrists Partner to Deliver Training in Illinois on Individuals with Mental Illnesses in the Courts
The Judges’ Criminal Justice/Mental Health Leadership Initiative (JLI) recently partnered with the newly formed Psychiatric Leadership Group (PLG) to design a training on effectively identifying and managing individuals with mental illnesses in the courts. The two groups collaborated with the Administrative Office of Illinois Courts (AOIC) to train over 60 Illinois judges this May in Springfield.
HUD Secretary Encourages Public Housing Authorities to Grant Access to People with Criminal Records
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan sent a letter last week to executive directors of public housing authorities (PHAs) clarifying HUD’s position regarding people with criminal record’s eligibility for public housing. In the letter, which was co-signed by Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing Sandra B. Henriquez, Secretary Donovan encourages PHA executive directors “to allow ex-offenders to rejoin their families in the Public Housing or Housing Choice Voucher programs, when appropriate.”
Invitation to Pilot Mental Health Court Curriculum
The Council of State Governments Justice Center, with the support of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, is seeking applications from jurisdictions interested in piloting a new mental health court curriculum in late fall, 2011. Through the pilot process, the selected sites will learn how to design and implement a mental health court in their jurisdiction and will be formally recognized, if interested, as the pilot sites in future descriptions of the curriculum project. You can download the application form here and send it back following the instructions on the first page.
Tell Us Your Success Stories!
The Consensus Project is eager to learn how your program has improved the lives of the individuals it serves. We’re currently collecting “success stories” from mental health courts, crisis intervention teams, specialized probation programs, and other types of criminal justice/mental health collaborations. We encourage you to contribute a story about how your program has had a positive impact — either in the life of one client, or more generally in how the criminal justice system functions. These success stories will be used to promote the value of the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program in various forums. All names and other identifying information will be omitted.
To contribute a success story, contact Matt Schwarzfeld (mschwarzfeld@csg.org / 646-383-5715).
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Webinar and Forum Discussion on Specialized Policing Response (SPR) Programs
The Consensus Project recently hosted a webinar on innovative collaborations between law enforcement and mental health agencies working to improve the response to people with mental illnesses through specialized policing response (SPR) programs. The recorded webinar is now available online. You are also invited to participate in an online discussion forum on this important topic.
Conference Registration: Community of Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities
The Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion of Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities has now opened online registration for its Second International Research Conference on Community Inclusion Of Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities (September 18 – 21, 2011 – Doubletree Hotel – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania).
For more information on the conference, click here, and to register online for the conference, click here.
New Article on Transinstitutionalization
The Community Mental Health Journal recently published an article that considers whether "transinstitutionalization" contributed to the increase in the number of people with mental illnesses in the justice system. The article, written by former CSG Justice Center staff member Seth Prins, can be purchased online.
NAMI Releases Youth CIT Manual
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has published a crisis intervention team (CIT) manual for families, police, schools, mental health professionals and others to build local programs to help youth with mental illness. To access the 150-page "CIT for Youth" manual, click here.
CJ/MH IN THE NEWS
Articles from newspapers around the country covering issues at the intersection of mental health and criminal justice can be found on the Consensus Project website. Some recent headlines from the homepage are posted below.