This guide was prepared by the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center for grant recipients under the U.S. Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Assistance's Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP), which features the development and refinement of justice and mental health initiatives for justice-involved people with mental illnesses.
This guide is intended not only for JMHCP grantees, but also for grantees' CSG Justice Center's technical assistance (TA) providers as a means of understanding the status and progress of a grantee's project. The guide is not meant to be a step-by-step blueprint for implementing the features of the JMHCP, but rather as a tool to foster discussion on best practices, identify considerations for a collaborative effort, and assist in making key decisions and implementation strategies. The guide contains a self-assessment tool that assists grantees and their TA providers in the development of priorities for technical assistance. The guide is divided into six sections captioned "Getting Started and Identifying Goals;" "Developing Your Collaborative Planning Committee and Project Team;" "Tracking Mental Health-Related Calls for Service;" "Applying the Essential Elements of a Specialized Law Enforcement-Based Program;" "Data Collection, Performance Measurement, and Program Evaluation;" and "Sustainability." Each section of the guide has assessment questions, exercises, and discussion prompts. The self-assessment questions and exercises are grounded in evidence-based principles. Appendixes contain an overview of police-mental health collaboration programs and supporting resources. .