101328: Jail Diversion for People With Mental Illness

About the Course:

Diversion programs serve as critical strategies in preventing people with mental illness who commit crimes from entering or unnecessarily remaining in the criminal justice system. The information in this publication is designed to help state and local Mental Health Associations and other advocacy groups organize local stakeholders to implement diversion programs.

Journal/Publisher:

The TAPA Center for Jail Diversion

Publication Date:

October 2003

Author

Wendi Cook and Charles Ingoglia

About the Authors:

Wendi Cook and Charles Ingoglia are associated with the National Mental Health Association (NMHA), the country’s oldest and largest non-profit organization addressing all aspects of mental health and mental illness. With more than 340 affiliates nationwide, NMHA works to improve the mental health of all Americans, especially the 54 million individuals with mental disorders, through advocacy, education, research, and service.

Recommended For:

This course is recommended for health care professionals, especially psychologists, counselors, social workers, and nurses who seek knowledge about developing community coalitions to address the issue of jail diversion for people with mental illness. It is appropriate for all levels of participants’ knowledge.

Course Objectives:

1. Explain the need to divert people with mental illnesses away from jails and prisons and toward community-based mental health treatment.

2. Describe the process of generating community support for jail diversion.

3. Identify the roles of coalition members when building a diversion program.

4. Give examples of coalition-building and consensus-reaching strategies drawn from communities who have modeled the process.