FY25Q1 Engagement Activities
Met and corresponded with grantee 8 times between October 1, 2024 - December 31, 2024 on the following dates:
10/7/24 - Email following up on 10/4/24 check in
10/8/24 - Email with additional resources
10/21/24 - Email with information about BJA rural initiative
10/23/24 - Email about PTACC
11/12/24 - Email about RHAPSODI funding
11/19/24 - Bi-monthly check-in call
11/19/24 - Email following up on check-in call
12/3/24 - Email about JCOIN funding
Summary of Successes
Buy-in from a local municipal judge, district probation officer, and assistant city manager
Planning to use state funding to host a 3 day restorative justice training for their partners and other stakeholders
Summary of Challenges
Staff turnover
Solution - will likely be filling the vacant Early Intervention Program Manager role soon
Difficulties housing the program/court navigator roles
Summary of Resources Provided
National Association of Community and Restorative Justice
Rural Justice Collaborative
Court Navigator Programs at Policy Research Associates
RTI_Court_Navigators_Connect_Justice-involved_Individuals.pdf
Court Navigation to Support
Behavioral Health
Many individuals who become involved in the criminal
justice system struggle with untreated substance use
or mental health conditions. Court systems have taken
an interest in linking these individuals to treatment, but
treatment uptake can be challenging for those with
behavioral health conditions.1, 2, 3 Accessing treatment
requires scheduling and attending appointments,
paying treatment costs or obtaining health insurance
coverage, and overcoming the stigma that can
accompany these conditions. For those in the justice
system, these obligations are compounded by legal
requirements such as court visits and probation
conditions. Many individuals with behavioral health
conditions have difficulty managing these types of
complex and stressful activities or lack the resources to
do so, meaning that they may miss out on the benefits
of treatment and face even worse health and legal
outcomes.
Navigation is a model that has been used in both
health and legal settings to reduce barriers to
treatment and significantly improve outcomes for
individuals with mental health or substance use
Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP)
Court Navigators Connect Justice-involved
Individuals to More Than Just Treatment May 2024
diagnoses. 4, 5 Court-based navigation programs are
gaining in popularity in jurisdictions across the
United States, designed to link justice-involved
individuals to mental health and substance use
treatment and improve legal outcomes such as court
attendance, adherence to conditions of pretrial and
probation, and recidivism.6, 7, 8, 9 A “court-based
navigator” has been defined as “a person who is in a
position to help meet both limited legal-related needs
by providing guidance and information related to
court processes and behavioral health, economic, and
social service-related needs by providing connections
to community-based resources.” 10
In addition to making referrals to behavioral health
treatment providers, a court-based navigator
may provide support by identifying housing and
transportation resources, calling a client to remind
them of a court or therapy visit, or helping set up a
plan for restitution payments, among other things.
These types of assistance are beneficial to both
individuals and courts: individuals access treatment
to improve their symptoms and help meet legal
obligations, and court systems increase efficiency
by avoiding missed court dates and probation
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RTI_Jail_Diversion_Models_Part_One (1).pdf
Mental health and substance use disorders are
overrepresented, and undertreated, in the criminal
justice system. This has prompted widespread
responses in the past several decades, particularly
in the formation of interventions to divert adults
with serious mental illness (SMI), substance use
disorders (SUDs), or co-occurring disorders (CODs)
into appropriate, evidence-based community care.
Hundreds of diversion programs to address the
needs of justice-involved adults with mental health
and substance use disorders have proliferated across
the United States, and jurisdictions can have trouble
parsing the many options available to them. This first
article of a two-part series will provide an overview
of these programs, including information about
Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program (COSSAP)
Jail Diversion Models: Part I
when people may be introduced to them, how they
work, and what resources are available to programs
interested in beginning or modifying a diversion
system. The second article will highlight specific
challenges and best practices from case studies across
various settings.
Mental and Behavioral Health in
the Criminal Justice System
Adults with mental, substance use, and co-occurring
disorders are substantially overrepresented in the
criminal justice system. In 2019, past-year SUDs were
reported by 7.7 percent of adults in the United States,
and co-occurring SUDs and SMIs by 1.4 percent.1 In
contrast, in 2010 an estimated 65 percent of inmates in
the U.S. prison population had an active SUD,2; 3 and in
2020 an estimated 12 percent of males and 24 percent
of females in the criminal justice system had CODs.4; 5
Justice-involved adults with SMIs, SUDs, or CODs are
at high risk of various adverse outcomes—including
homelessness, violence, victimization, hospitalization,
and rearrest.6; 7; 8
Despite the significant treatment needs of this
vulnerable population, jail-based barriers often
prevent adequate provision and continuity of care.
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RHAPSODI Funding Opportunity.pdf
Request for Proposals
Reimagining Health and Public Safety Overdose Initiatives
(RHAPSODI)
2024-2025
Date of release: October 28, 2024
*Applications are due by 5:00 pm E.T. on December 3, 2024*
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BJA rural initiative information
Upcoming conferences
JCOIN Rapid Innovation Grant (J-RIG) Program
Summary of Suggestions for further TA/next steps
Continue regularly scheduled TA engagement and coaching
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