Conferences & Meetings
Upcoming Trainings
Recordings of Previous Meetings
National Institute of Corrections
· Interventions for Adult Offenders With Serious Mental Illness (2013)
This report is a great introduction to strategies for treating offenders with serious mental illness (i.e., schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, or major depression) in jails, prisons, forensic hospitals, or community reentry programs. The researchers “identified some promising treatments for individuals with serious mental illness during incarceration or during transition from incarceration to community settings. Treatment with antipsychotics other than clozapine appears to improve psychiatric symptoms more than clozapine in an incarceration setting. Two interventions, discharge planning with Medicaid-application assistance and integrated dual disorder treatment programs, appear to be effective interventions for seriously mentally ill offenders transitioning back to the community” (p. vii). SOURCE: ECRI Institute Evidence-based Practice Center (Plymouth Meeting, PA). Authored by Fontanarosa, Joann; Uhl, Stacy; Oyesanmi, Olu; Schoelles, Karen M..
If your agency is looking for ideas on how to provide effective reentry services then this report is a great place to start. “The program snapshots below illustrate the positive impact these reentry initiatives can have by focusing on areas vital to reintegration back into the community … Representing a wide range of populations served, these programs also demonstrate the diversity of approaches that can address recidivism and increase public safety” (p. 1). Programs are described that: support employment and job readiness; build strong foundations through education; foster positive relationships and facilitating services through mentoring; address substance abuse and mental health needs; support youth to avert future involvement in the criminal justice system; address the distinct needs of women; support the strengths and needs of families; and serve tribes and reservations with culturally-relevant programs. SOURCE: Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center (New York, NY).
· National Inventory of the Collateral Consequences of Conviction (2014)
"Persons convicted of crime are subject to a wide variety of legal and regulatory sanctions and restrictions in addition to the sentence imposed by the court. These so- called “collateral consequences” of conviction have been promulgated with little coordination in disparate sections of state and federal codes, which makes it difficult for anyone to identify all of the penalties and disabilities that are triggered by conviction of a particular offense … Through the National Inventory, each jurisdiction’s collateral consequences will be made accessible to the public through a website that can be searched and sorted by categories and keywords. The website will make it possible for criminal and civil lawyers to determine which collateral consequences are triggered by particular categories of offenses, for affected individuals to understand the limits on their rights and opportunities, and for lawmakers and policy advocates to understand the full measure of a jurisdiction’s sanctions and disqualifications. It will also be possible through the website to perform inter-jurisdictional comparisons and national analyses.” Points of entry include: project description; User Guide Frequently Asked Questions; links to a bibliography and additional resources; and contact information. SOURCE: American Bar Association (ABA). Criminal Justice Section (Washington, DC).
· Reentry Conference Materials Online
This past May the Council of State Governments Justice Center convened Second Chance Act and Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program grantees for a conference in Washington, DC that was designed to promote collaboration on combating issues of mental health and recidivism. Attendees heard from experts and practitioners about a wide range of programs being tested in the field to combat recidivism. Click link above to access the conference agenda and watch the opening plenary and many of the workshop sessions.