Justice-involved individuals diagnosed with mental illness are often incarcerated instead of accessing community-based mental healthcare. As a result, they are overrepresented in jails and prisons throughout the U.S. A high prevalence of mental illness and substance use exist among jail inmates, and they reenter society without the necessary supports following incarceration. This occurs for a myriad of reasons, including the lack of community services to better ensure successful reintegration, and the lack of support to meet basic needs for food, housing, and transportation. The outcome is additional arrests and incarcerations.
The Mountain Plains Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC) team is dedicated to addressing mental health among those who are involved with the criminal justice system. In response, the team conducted a needs assessment of training and technical assistance in December 2019 among probation and parole officers in Region 8. In response to the findings of that survey, the Mountain Plains MHTTC team has begun identifying existing resources and technical assistance available to those working with justice-involved individuals.
The Criminal Justice resources page houses dozens of reputable resources and evidenced-based models for those working with justice-involved individuals.
If you have questions about this website or products you thing would be valuable on this page, please contact Shawnda Schroeder at [email protected].
