Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program: Fact Sheet (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised Feb. 2, 2016 |
| Report Number |
R43556 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Nathan James, Analyst in Crime Policy |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
People with mental illness comprise a significant proportion of the population involved with\r the criminal justice system. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that at midyear 2005,\r over half of state prison and local jail inmates had a mental health problem.1 Mental health\r courts were developed to respond to the large number of people in the criminal justice systems\r with mental illness.2\r The federal government provides funding to support mental health courts across the country\r through the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration program. The purpose of the program is to\r increase public safety by facilitating collaboration among the criminal justice, juvenile justice,\r mental health treatment, and substance abuse systems to increase access to treatment for\r offenders with mental illness.3 Authorized funding for this program expired at the end of FY2014.\r Even though authorized appropriations expired at the end of FY2014, Congress appropriated\r funding for the program for FY2015.
