Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program

Grant funds may be used to:

--Plan, create, or expand programs that promote public safety and public health by providing appropriate services for multisystem-involved individuals with mental illnesses or co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders.

--Plan, create, or expand specialized training programs for criminal justice and mental health and substance abuse treatment personnel.

--Plan, create, or expand law enforcement strategies to provide response options that are tailored to the needs of people with mental illnesses.

--Plan, create, or expand mental health courts, other court-based programs, pre-trial services, use of court-appointed mental health advocates and case managers, and mandatory treatment as part of probation/parole, and diversion and alternative prosecution and sentencing programs.

--Plan, create, or expand specialized community corrections initiatives.

--Promote and provide mental health and co-occurring disorders treatment and transitional services for those incarcerated or transitional reentry programs for those released from a correctional institution.

CATEGORY 1: PLANNING. Grant amount: Up to $50,000. Project period: 12 months.
Category 1 applicants will design a strategic, collaborative plan to initiate systemic change for the identification and treatment of system-involved individuals with mental illnesses or co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders. Key to the planning category is the development of an effective collaboration representing support from all levels of government, justice, mental health and substance abuse treatment services, transportation, housing, advocates, consumers, victims, and family members.

CATEGORY 2: PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION. Grant amount: Up to $250,000. Project period: 24 months. Category 2 applicants will complete an already-initiated collaboration plan for their criminal justice and mental health or co-occurring collaboration, and then begin implementation of the plan during the project period. Planning and Implementation grants can support law enforcement response programs; mental health courts, pretrial services, and diversion/alternative prosecution and sentencing programs; treatment accountability services; specialized training for justice and treatment professionals; corrections/community corrections, transitional, and reentry services to create or expand mental illnesses or co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders support services; and non-treatment recovery support services coordination and delivery including case management, housing placement, job training, education, primary and mental health care, and family supportive services. Up to six months of the total project period can be used to complete plan details, with the remaining months used for implementation of the program.

Additional allowable uses for programs focused on law enforcement responses to people with mental illnesses can include: Plan for and implement training programs that offer law enforcement personnel specialized and comprehensive training in procedures; Plan for and implement programs that offer campus security personnel training in procedures.

CATEGORY 3: EXPANSION. Grant amount: Up to $200,000. Project period: 24 months.
Category 3 applicants will expand upon or improve their well-established collaboration plan.

Link to full announcement.