July 25, 2006

Building Bridges: Consumers and Representatives of the Mental Health and Criminal Justice Systems in Dialogue

In 2003, the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health issued its final report, Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America. The report calls for transforming the way that services are provided for people who experience mental health problems throughout the country. As the lead Federal agency, the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has designated this transformation as a central focus of its work.

This report, provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration gives recommendations and suggestions to the system. Both personal and systems transformation depend on relationships and connections between people. CMHS sponsored a dialogue among consumers of mental health services who have had contact with the criminal justice system. In an effort to develop improved understanding, respect, and partnerships, the two dozen participants identified issues involving mental health consumers, prevention prior to consumer entry into jails and prisons, community reentry efforts, identified factors at both the person level and the system level that promote or hinder recovery from mental illnesses, and developed recommendations regarding systems transformation that can foster recovery and community integration.