Decriminalizing Mental Illness: Improving Diversion - Reducing Recidivism

• In Event: Policing Experiences: How they Affect Encounters with Special Classes of Citizens

Abstract

The three largest mental health providers in the nation are the following jails: Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City. Diversions of mentally ill citizens from the criminal justice system are too low and recidivism is too high. Previous research suggests that operational silos surrounding police work, public health, and social service agencies impede effective service delivery. Additionally, a lack of understanding of organizational culture acts as an impediment to sustained solutions. The present research adopts a systems approach to explore the following three critical questions: (1) Are organizations sufficiently aligned themselves and with others within the system to address the problem of criminalization of those who are mentally ill? (2) What is the level of “institutional bias? (3) What are the best practices to address the issues?
The findings represent Phase 1 of a three Phase research project being carried out in Montgomery County and Chester County, PA.

Author

• Patricia Griffin, Cabrini University