Congress, state legislatures, mental health, substance abuse and criminal justice agencies across the nation have recognized the need to provide services that work to prevent entry into the criminal justice system and jail diversion services to persons with serious mental illness or co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders (co-occurring disorders). Over the last 35 years, the number of persons with a serious mental illness or a co-occurring disorder arrested each year for misdemeanor and other “nuisance” and “quality of life” crimes has dramatically increased. A number of factors have caused these increases including the closing and consolidating of psychiatric hospitals and community mental health centers, a lack of resources and more stringent laws. Police departments and corrections agencies have become the de facto service providers for the this population as community based mental health services have dwindled or become more restrictive.

Substance Abuse Treatment and Mental Health Services Integration (SATMHSI) Taskforce
The CJCC included mental health and co-occurring disorders among the six priorities it would undertake in fiscal year 2006 as a result of the aforementioned findings. The CJCC’s SATMHSI Taskforce was established and chaired by Deputy Mayor Brenda Donald Walker (Children, Youth, Families and Elders) and Director Susan Shaffer (Pretrial Services Agency) to systematically address this issue. The CJCC began to develop and/or strengthen several initiatives necessary for defendants, offenders, and ex-offenders in the District who have a severe mental illness or co-occurring disorder with the creation of the SATMHSI Taskforce. The SATMHSI Taskforce initiated interviews with several agencies and organizations that interact with justice-involved persons with mental illness and/or co-occurring disorders during the spring of 2006. The Taskforce identified several gaps in the criminal justice system where individuals in this population may be overlooked and created a preliminary analysis of the gaps as an outcome of these interviews. This culminated in a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Roundtable that took place during the summer of 2006. The Roundtable involved the directors of the criminal justice, mental health and substance abuse agencies in the District. The principals of these agencies engaged in an in-depth discussion of the current issues facing this population and developed initiatives for improving these services.