Substance Use and Mental Health
It’s by now a truism that the criminal justice system and jails in particular are a dumping ground for people with substance use and mental health problems. Virtually no corner of the system is untouched, and much of Vera’s work with our government partners around the country addresses the challenges associated with identifying mental health needs and responding appropriately.
That expansive body of work includes a project to address the challenges public defenders face when representing clients with a mental health problem, with the goal of improving representation and case outcomes. Another explores systemic changes, as opposed to reactive measures, that correctional facilities can take to prevent the widespread problem of suicide and other serious self-harming behavior among incarcerated people. And we produced a groundbreaking study of the positive effects of reforming New York's infamous Rockefeller drug laws. We also work with law enforcement to ensure that harm reduction strategies are implemented as a response to substance use, and that best practices that divert people with mental illness from the justice system to the health system are supported.
Related Work
Photo by Jovelle Tamayo
Behavioral Health Crisis Alternatives
Shifting from Police to Community Responses
Changing Course in the Overdose Crisis
Moving from Punishment to Harm Reduction and Health
Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the United States, and communities across the country are struggling to respond. But the punitive approach exemplified by the “war on drugs” has driven mass incarceration, exacerbated racial disparities within the criminal justice system, and devastated communities of color. The United State ...
A Sentinel Review Process Could Help Washington D.C.
Prosecutors charged him with second degree murder, and a judge found that he was a danger to the community, denying his request for pretrial release. Mr. Hicks spent 13 days in jail before his defense team noted that the video actually depicted a different suspect, prompting prosecutors to dismiss the case. Under the single cause-bad actor approach ...
Blog Post
Akhi Johnson
Study Links Solitary Confinement to Increased Risk of Death After Release
The report found that the more time people spent in restrictive housing as a percentage of their total incarceration, the greater their risk of death in the first year after their release. Those who had been in solitary confinement two or more times during their incarceration were 41 percent and 74 percent more likely to die of homicide and suicide ...
Blog Post
Aaron Stagoff-Belfort
Racial Disparities In Mental Health And Criminal Justice
The Solution The good news is that there is increased focus on how to divert people with mental illness—including people of color with mental illness—out of the criminal justice system entirely. Jurisdictions across the country are developing and implementing models to improve responses to people with mental illness. There is widespread agreem ...
Blog Post
Leah Pope
New York State Must Take Action to Reduce Opioid Overuse Deaths
Legislation currently being proposed in New York State—S2161/A833A—would change that, requiring prisons and jails across the state to provide MAT to people who are incarcerated. MAT, specifically methadone and buprenorphine, is the gold standard of care and can save countless lives. If enacted S2161/A833A and three other bills that are pending now— ...
Blog Post
Lauren Jones
This Mental Health Month and Beyond, Collaboration Helps Police Serve Safely
People with mental illnesses and developmental disabilities are more likely to encounter police than get medical help when they’re in crisis. Lapses in communication—an individual in crisis struggling to understand an officer’s command, an officer misinterpreting that struggle as willful noncompliance and countering more aggressively, exacerbating ...
Blog Post
Jackson Beck
Serving Safely
Fact Sheet on the National Initiative to Enhance Policing for Persons with Mental Illnesses and Developmental Disabilities
People living with mental illnesses and developmental disabilities are disproportionately represented in contacts with the police, and these interactions can lead to stress and dangerous conditions for everyone involved. Law enforcement agencies can now request the tools they need to serve safely and effectively.
Sharing Behavioral Health Information across Justice and Health Systems
Opportunities in the District of Columbia
People with mental health and substance use problems are overrepresented at all stages of the criminal justice system in the United States. However, decision makers, health care providers, and staff often work with only a fraction of the behavioral health information that exists about their clients. Expanding the availability of behavioral health d ...
Up Close with the Opioid Crisis
Officer Nicole Moyer of the Burlington Police Department opens up about working on the front lines of the opioid crisis.
For Mental Health Month, a New Initiative Focused on Serving Safely
As organizations across the country draw attention to Mental Health Awareness Month this May and to the various ways that mental illness impacts people’s lives, the launch of Serving Safely offers a chance to reflect on the myriad opportunities for improving the way criminal justice stakeholders interact with vulnerable community members at all sta ...
Blog Post
Leah Pope
Rebecca Neusteter
Responding to Behavioral Health Crises
Alternatives to Police-Based Approaches
Police are ill-equipped to safely and effectively serve people in behavioral health crisis. Even when officers receive training in crisis intervention and de-escalation, the mere presence of armed, uniformed police whose core function is criminal enforcement can exacerbate distress and escalate mental health-related situations. This threat is compo ...