Analysis Area 1: Facilitate a cross-system data match between DHHS and county jails to identify the overlapping population of people who have behavioral health challenges who move through local criminal justice systems and identify high utilizers of both systems. CSG Justice Center staff will conduct an in-depth descriptive analysis of the matched Medicaid claims data to provide information on trends in services accessed in the community by people incarcerated in each participating jail. CSG Justice Center staff will also analyze county jail data related to demographic information, booking and release information, screening and assessment information, medications, and programming and treatment information to understand the criminal justice and behavioral health characteristics of locally incarcerated populations.
Update: In December, CSG Justice Center staff identified issues with the initial jail/Medicaid dataset, including incomplete data submitted by the counties to DHHS, and worked with DHHS analysts to submit a revised, complete dataset on December 16. CSG Justice Center staff then continued to analyze the matched jail/Medicaid data from DHHS. This included cleaning the data, conducting initial analysis, and creating visualizations for internal use to examine trends in criminal charges and racial disparities. CSG Justice Center staff continued to communicate with DHHS and the jails to clarify questions related to the matched jail/Medicaid dataset.
Analysis Area 2: Conduct a qualitative assessment on the availability, quality, and data collection practices of jail-based mental health and substance use disorder programming and treatment. CSG Justice Center staff will conduct interviews and focus groups with superintendents, jail staff, and contracted behavioral health providers to provide information on the identification of people with behavioral health needs, services, programming, and options within jails for care coordination to support connections to community-based care. CSG Justice Center staff will review jail policies that guide the practice of identifying, tracking, and referring people with behavioral health conditions to services. This assessment will provide qualitative data on local trends in jail populations, behavioral health needs, and participation in jail-based treatment and services.
Update: CSG Justice Center staff continued to explore how jail assessment findings inform and intersect with the ongoing data analysis and results of the community-based behavioral health assessment.
Analysis Area 3: Conduct a community-based behavioral health assessment with mental health center staff, substance use disorder treatment and recovery support service providers, housing and homeless service providers, and people with lived experiences. CSG Justice Center staff will identify and geographically map current behavioral health services, crisis response, and alternatives to incarceration programs to provide an overview of availability of services in each county. This assessment will inform stakeholders on the current gaps in behavioral health resources and care coordination with criminal justice systems.
Update: In December, Policy Research Associates (PRA) delivered their report on the community-based behavioral health assessment to CSG Justice Center staff. The report was originally anticipated in November. PRA staff and CSG Justice Center staff met to discuss findings and recommendations in the report, including challenges such as the lack of non-emergency behavioral health assistance in the community and the lack of non-siloed funds to support people cycling through jails with co-occurring disorders.
Analysis Area 4: Connect with criminal justice stakeholders (law enforcement, judges, defense attorney, prosecuting attorneys, and community-based corrections) to examine the extent to which law enforcement, courts, and other criminal justice stakeholders have viable, evidence-informed community resources available for people in the criminal justice system who have behavioral health and housing needs, including access to effective crisis and treatment services. CSG Justice Center staff will also identify and geographically map current alternatives to incarceration programs to provide an overview of availability of options for criminal justice agencies in each county. This assessment will inform stakeholders on the current gaps in alternatives to criminal justice system for people with behavioral health conditions.
Update: CSG Justice Center staff spoke with former President Joe Hoebeke (Hollis PD) from the NH Association of Chiefs of Police to begin to learn more about how protective custody holds are used by law enforcement, particularly in areas that lack community resources that may serve as alternatives to incarceration.
Research Monthly Status:
In December, CSG Justice Center Research staff continued to communicate with DHHS to address issues with the initial matched jail/Medicaid dataset submitted in November. Research staff also worked with the jails to clarify any questions related to the jail data provided to CSG Justice Center and DHHS. Upon receiving an updated matched dataset from DHHS, CSG Justice Center Research staff continued to clean and analyze the matched dataset along with the administrative jail data. This included the following:
• Categorizing Medicaid diagnoses
• Identifying unique individuals and bookings across datasets
• Examining frequency
• Conducting initial Relative Rate Index analysis to examine racial disparities
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