Background:

The Durham County Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Project (JMHCP) involved multiple objectives centered around collaboration between criminal legal and mental health agencies, as well as implementation of various screening and assessment tools to more reliably identify mental illnesses, co-occurring substance use disorders, and criminogenic risks and/or needs. Additional objectives included expanding training for detention facility staff in crisis intervention, de-escalation, and Mental Health First Aid and developing an information system that integrates multiple sources of information pertaining to mental health status, criminogenic risks/needs, and Medicaid status.

Aims:

• What are the jurisdiction-reported prevalence rates of mental illness and what strategies do counties use to identify and track individuals on probation who have mental illnesses (e.g., screening tools, mental health "flags" in case management systems)?​

• What specialized mental health approaches do probation agencies use to supervise people with mental illnesses (e.g., specialized staffing and caseloads, differential use of sanctions and other criminal justice responses to address violations, diversion to treatment)? ​

• In what ways have probation agencies adapted mental health supervision approaches (including screening and referral protocols) to COVID-19?

Principal Investigator:

Tonya Van Deinse