January 01, 2011
Ongoing
NRI is hosting a series of technical assistance webinars for SAMHSA's Olmstead Communities of Practice. The NRI TA webinar series will focus on the intersection of the Criminal Justice System and Olmstead. The goal of the project is to bring together a diverse group of stakeholders to learn, strategize, and share with one another the opportunities and challenges related to improving community integration for individuals with mental illnesses. The presentations that have occurred have focused on:
- ADA and Olmstead Principles to Divert People with Mental Illness from the Criminal Justice System
- This fist webinar discussed how the how the Olmstead mandate is relevant to individuals involved in both the mental health and criminal justice systems. A state-specific example is provided to demonstrate how the Olmstead mandate impacted at 2011 Settlement Agreement between Delaware and the DOJ.
- Criminal Justice Olmstead Learning Community: Programs for Individuals with Mental Health and IDD Needs
- This second webinar focused on a unique criminal-justice involved population: individuals with co-occurring intellectual/developmental disabilities and mental health disorders. The presentation explored the unique challenges that face this population, and provided information on a community-based program in Massachusetts that was developed to support this population.
- Criminal Justice Olmstead Learning Community: Forensic Peer Specialists
- This third webinar focused on the use of peer specialists in forensic settings. The importance of utilizing forensic peer specialists and process required to establish a forensic peer specialist certification program were discussed.
- Criminal Justice Olmstead Learning Community: Criminal Justice Diversion Methods for Rural Areas
- This fourth webinar focused on jail diversion initiatives in rural Olmsted County, Minnesota. Programs and methods spanning the Sequential Intercept Model that are currently being utilized by the county to divert individuals from the Criminal Justice System to appropriate behavioral health treatment were discussed.
- Criminal Justice Olmstead Learning Community: Florida’s Criminal Mental Health Division
- The final webinar featured Florida’s Criminal Mental Health Division. The speaker discussed how the program was developed along with the impact that the program has made on participants and the system over the years.