While important strides have been made to prevent people with behavioral health disorders from entering the criminal justice system, the number continues to be excessive and, too often, unnecessary. The State of Maryland is among many jurisdictions struggling to find and implement alternatives to incarceration. The State struggles to reduce recidivism, too, by providing support to people with mental illness who are released from prison.
On November 10, 2017, a summit was held in Maryland to address these issues and identify initiatives to advance collaboration between law enforcement, corrections, the courts, behavioral health, and other fields in serving the needs of people with mental illness. The Summit grew out of prior work by National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Maryland and other organizations, renewed interest by the current State administration in addressing the issues, recent publicity, and a court order related to people who have mental illness in the Maryland corrections system. The result of the Summit is a newly released report which contains the Summit’s findings and proposals.
Links to Resource:
- Read the report entitled Course Correction – Collaboration of Criminal Justice and Behavioral Health: Advancing New and Proven Models for State and Local Government (pdf).
- Learn more about NAMI Maryland
Date: 2018