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Strategic plans or business plans are important for making the case for prioritizing funding, policy, and practice improvements. If necessary, the plan identifies the need for additional personnel; increased capacity for mental health and substance use treatment services and support services, such as housing and employment; and infrastructure improvements,… Read More

A person’s movement through the justice system is traced, from their first contact with law enforcement to the final case disposition. By including detailed information–including data that specifies capacity needs–the planning team is better positioned to identify opportunities to improve services and prioritize needs. Read More

A person can grant written permission to release his or her health information, which facilitates information sharing. Jurisdictions may obtain an authorization or consent form at various stages of the criminal justice process, such as at initial contact with law enforcement, at jail booking, or when joining a mental health… Read More

Single definitions of mental illness and serious mental illness (SMI) are adopted and consistently used by local behavioral health systems, jail, courts, and probation and parole agencies for their Stepping Up efforts. This ensures that all systems are using the same measure to identify people who have mental illnesses and… Read More

A single definition of recidivism is adopted and consistently used by local behavioral health systems, jails, courts, and probation and parole agencies for their Stepping Up efforts. This definition accounts for the premise that rearrests, convictions for new crimes, and the return to custody for violating conditions of release (i.e.,… Read More

A single definition of substance addiction is adopted and consistently used by local behavioral health systems, jails, courts, and probation and parole agencies for their Stepping Up efforts. This ensures that all systems are using the same measure to identify people who have substance addiction, which may encompass substance addictions… Read More

Collaborating agencies develop partnership agreements, such as memoranda of understanding (MOU), that establish the roles and responsibilities of each agency. These agreements may also be used to support information-sharing between collaborating agencies (see also the “Information-sharing agreements” intervention). Read More

Upon gathering the data and completing the process analysis and inventory of services, the planning team selects and prioritizes strategies intended to impact one or more of the four key measures. Each strategy is accompanied by a detailed description of funding needs, projections of the impact it will have, potential… Read More

A representative planning team is established that includes key leaders from the criminal justice and behavioral health systems, people who have mental illnesses, mental health advocates, and representatives from county, municipal, and state government, as appropriate. The planning team, which includes a designated chairperson and a project coordinator, has established… Read More