definition for: #jmhcp

The Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP) was created by the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-414) in response to requests from state government officials to recommend improvements to the criminal justice system's response to people with mental illness. The purpose of the program is to increase public safety by facilitating collaboration among the criminal justice, juvenile justice, mental health treatment, and substance abuse systems to increase access to treatment for this unique group of offenders. People with mental illness are significantly represented in the segment of the population in contact with the criminal justice system. Approximately 5 percent of the U.S. population has a serious mental illness, while according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics in a 1999 report, about 16 percent of the prison or jail population has a serious mental illness. Of the 10 million people booked into U.S. jails in 1997, at least 700,000 had a serious mental illness; approximately three-quarters of those individuals had a co-occurring substance abuse disorder. For juveniles, a study completed by the National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice concluded that two-thirds of detained male youth and three-quarters of detained female youth have at least one mental health disorder.

The goals of the program are to: -Protect public safety by early intervention to treatment for people with mental illness or a co-occurring disorder who become involved with the criminal or juvenile justice system. This includes strategies (to the extent practicable) to address development and learning disabilities and problems arising from a documented history of physical or sexual abuse. -Provide courts, including existing and new mental health courts, with appropriate mental health and substance abuse treatment options. -Maximize the use of diversion from prosecution and use of alternative sentences through community supervision and use of graduated sanctions, as appropriate for the client, in cases involving nonviolent offenders with mental illness. -Promote adequate training for criminal justice system personnel about mental illness and substance abuse disorders and the appropriate responses to people with such illnesses, including those with developmental and learning disabilities. -Promote adequate training for mental health and substance abuse treatment personnel about criminal offenders with mental illness or co-occurring substance abuse disorders and the appropriate response to such offenders in the criminal justice system. -Promote communication among adult or juvenile justice personnel, mental health and co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse disorder treatment personnel, and nonviolent offenders with mental illness and co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders and support services such as housing, job placement, faith-based and community services, schools, child welfare, transportation, and crime victims' organizations. -Promote communication, collaboration, and intergovernmental partnerships among municipal-, county-, and state-elected officials with respect to mentally ill offenders.