COUNCIL OF STATE GOVERNMENTS

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COUNCIL OF STATE GOVERNMENTS
NASMHPD Forensic Division 2005 Annual
Meeting Presenter Michael Thompson Council of
State Governments
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COUNCIL OF STATE GOVERNMENTS
What is the Council of State Governments?

• Non-profit, non-partisan membership association
  of state government officials
• Represents all three branches of state
  government legislature, judiciary, and executive
  branch
• Provides non-partisan setting to discuss
  controversial criminal justice topics outside of
  the public spotlight
• Funded largely through state dues
• Four regional offices

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C R I M I N A L J U S T I C E / M E N T A L H
E A L T H C O N S E N S U S P R O J E C T
Advisory Boards and Coordinators
Law Enforcement
Mental Health
National Association of State Mental Health
Program Directors
Corrections
Courts
Association of State Correctional
Administrators
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE/ MENTAL HEALTH CONSENSUS PROJECT
Outcomes

• The Report
• 46 Policy Statements
• 100s of recommendations
• Database of over 140 program profiles

US Senate and US House Judiciary Hearings
Press Coverage
Federal Law Mentally Ill Offender Treatment
and Crime Reduction Act
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE/ MENTAL HEALTH CONSENSUS PROJECT
Current Resources Available to Policymakers and
Practitioners

• Mental Health Courts Program
• Technical assistance to improve collaboration
  between corrections and mental health agencies
• Federal benefits and re-entry
• Fiscal issues (Pennsylvania Senate Resolution
  125)   
• Advocacy Handbook  
• Crime victims
• Women with mental illness

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COUNCIL OF STATE GOVERNMENTS
OVERVIEW

• Investing in programs and services
• Getting data and measuring outcomes
• Making the case for justice reinvestment
• Stimulating local efforts and assuring quality
• Looking for federal leadership

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Investing in programs and services

• Nevada
• Idaho
• California
• Funding through Medicaid

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Investing in programs and services
Nevada AB 175

• Objective alleviate emergency room overcrowding
  of people with mental illness
• Grant recipients various mental health courts
  and community-based triage and treatment
  facilities
• Support for communities and mental health courts
• Administered by NV DMHDS

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Investing in programs and services
Idaho HBs 301 and 334

• Objective expand funding for existing and
  developing mental health courts and treatment
  options for mental health court participants
• Grant recipients mental health courts and
  Assertive Community Treatment teams
• Support for mental health courts and community
  service providers
• Administered by Idaho Supreme Court and DHW

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Investing in programs and services
California AB 2034

• Objective Reduce homelessness among individuals
  who have serious mental illness (including those
  at risk of incarceration)
• Grant recipients community mental health
  programs
• Support for housing and housing staff
• Administered by CA DMH

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Investing in programs and services
Leveraging Medicaid Dollars

• Nathaniel Assertive Community Treatment Program
• New York State OMH-certified as licensed ACT
  provider
• Enrolled by New York State DOH as Medicaid
  provider

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Getting data and measuring performance

• Pennsylvania
• California
• Connecticut

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Getting data and measuring performance
Pennsylvania SR 125

• Requests fiscal implication studies of three
  programs across the state
• Simulation of a planned jail diversion initiative
• Analysis of existing diversion program / MHC
• Analysis of program for parolees

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Getting data and measuring performance
California AB 2034
"The Governors Budget continues funding of
54.9 million General Fund for the AB 2034
program, which has a proven track record of
successes in treating and providing services to
the mentally ill. Additionally, evaluations have
shown that this program leads to significant
savings at the local level, and continuing this
program provides essential fiscal relief to
counties in these difficult times. - The
Governor's Budget 2004-05 Budget Summary
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Getting data and measuring performance
Connecticut HB 6976

• Legislature established a Criminal Justice Policy
  and Planning Division within the Office of Policy
  and Management to
• Develop a plan to promote a more effective and
  cohesive state criminal justice system
• Collect data from Department of Mental Health and
  Addiction Services other state agencies
• Define and report performance measures for major
  programs to the state legislature

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Making the case for justice reinvestment

• Connecticut
• Kansas

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Making the case for justice reinvestment
Connecticut Overview

• Predicament
• Mounting fiscal pressure on state budgets coupled
  with growing prison populations
• Increasing numbers of admissions to prison are
  violators of probation / parole
• Weakening community supervision and supports
• Concept
• Save money by managing growth of corrections
  system
• Increase public safety by using a portion of the
  savings to strengthen community supervision and
  build community capacity to receive offenders
  released from prison

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Making the case for justice reinvestment
Connecticut Probationers and TFA recipients
New Haven neighborhoods, 2002
Probationers
TFA Recipients
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Making the case for justice reinvestment
Connecticut Media Coverage
Lawmakers approve plan to reduce prison
populationMay 6, 2004 Associated Press
HARTFORD, Conn. -- The state Senate passed a
plan to reduce Connecticut's prison population
Wednesday night, finishing a major legislative
priority just an hour before the session's
close. Senators praised the bill as an effort to
reduce recidivism and a way to avoid building
more prisons. The measure passed 36-0 and now
heads to Gov. John G. Rowland's desk. "The nature
of this is to address what we all understand to
be an overwhelming problem," said Sen. Andrew
McDonald, D-Stamford, co-chairman of the
Judiciary Committee. "I think it also represents
a recognition of the fact that we will never be
able to build our way out of a criminal justice
issue. The state's prison population - around
19,000 - is about 2,000 more than state
facilities were built to handle, McDonald said.
Advocates of the legislation said it could reduce
the prison population by up to 2,000 inmates.
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Making the case for justice reinvestment
Connecticut The results

• Inmates housed out of state housed returned to CT
• 14 million reinvested in community supervision,
  community-based programs
• Focus on inter-agency collaboration, improved
  outcomes, and increased accountability

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Making the case for justice reinvestment
Kansas Prison population to exceed capacity
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Making the case for justice reinvestment
Kansas Using prisons as intermediate sanction
facilities for parolees
July 1, 2003 to Dec. 30, 2004
Parole Revocations 3,603 (42 of Admissions)
Conditions Violations 3,335 (92.6 of Parole
Revocations)

• Close to 88 of the parolees with conditions
  violations served 6 months or less
• 26 were admitted more than once during the 18
  month period studied
• 49 were on parole for a non-person felony

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Kansas Mental health problems an issue
Making the case for justice reinvestment
Offenders Released from DOC
20 Diagnosis of Mental Illness 50 Meeting KD
of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS)
Criteria for Severe and Persistent Mental Illness
(SPMI)
70 With NO Diagnosis of Mental Illness
Source CSG Technical Assistance Report to
Kansas, November 30, 2004
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Making the case for justice reinvestment
Kansas strategy Making revocation policies more
effective

• Create interagency re-entry and reinvestment task
  force to
• Reduce revocations to prison by 300 individuals
  annually to save 100 prison beds
• Invest in high stakes neighborhoods to reduce
  recidivism
• Increase collaboration
• Improve accountability

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Stimulating Local Efforts and Assuring Quality

• Connecticut Alliance to Benefit Law Enforcement
  (CABLE)
• Ohio Criminal Justice Coordinating Center of
  Excellence

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Stimulating Local Efforts and Assuring Quality
Connecticut Alliance to Benefit Law Enforcement
(CABLE)

• Established by diverse group of stakeholders
• Coordinates technical assistance for regionalized
  CIT trainings
• 2 million over four years in state funding
• CT DMHAS-supported program evaluations

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Stimulating Local Efforts and Assuring Quality
Ohio Criminal Justice Coordinating Center of
Excellence

• Established to promote jail diversion for people
  with mental illness
• Joint venture among state, state university, and
  county stakeholders
• Funded by Ohio DMH
• Works at state and county level
• Web site features

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Looking for federal leadership

• Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime
  Reduction Act
• Second Chance Act

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Looking for federal leadership
Mentally Ill Offenders Crime Reduction Act

• Authorizes 50M per year for grants to improve
  collaboration between criminal justice and mental
  health agencies
• Broad bipartisan support in both houses

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Looking for federal leadership
Second Chance Act

• 110 million grant program for state re-entry
  initiatives
• Broad bipartisan support in both houses
• National Resource Center
• Federal Interagency Task Force
• Amends some statutory roadblocks to re-entry

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COUNCIL OF STATE GOVERNMENTS
OVERVIEW

• Investing in programs and services
• Getting the data and measuring outcomes
• Making the case for justice reinvestment
• Stimulating local efforts and assuring quality
• Looking for federal leadership

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COUNCIL OF STATE GOVERNMENTS
Michael Thompson Tel [phone]Fax (212)
482-2344mthompson_at_csg.org
www.consensusproject.org