Client Interventions; Program Development
Improving Mental Health Services To Reduce Jail Populations
The Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence (ACE!) is a dynamic center that aims to bridge disciplines and bring researchers, practitioners, and policymakers together to grapple with issues that affect criminal justice and health systems. As part of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, ACE!’s mission is three-pronged: to conduct high quality research; to form lasting partnerships with the community; and to develop the next generation of researchers.
This presentation details a high-level view of the factors that affect the size of a jail population and the capacity for mental health services in and out of jail. The study examine steps taken by 950 counties to better serve individuals with mental illness including jail and community-based efforts. The study is in collaboration with the Council of State Government’s Justice Policy Center, National Association of Counties, and American Psychiatric Association Foundation. The National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Health (R01 MH118680, MPIs Taxman and Johnson) funded this study.