Webinar: Mental Health Diversion - Lessons from the Field

Recorded December 11, 2023

In 2022, the National Judicial Task Force Examine Courts’ Responses to Mental Illness recommended that the Judge’s Guide to Mental Health Diversion, a vital tool for judges across the country for over a decade, should be updated. The National Center for State Courts (NCSC), along with stakeholders and national experts, revised the guide. The new guide contains updated information and relies on a better understanding of how to effectively divert people with mental health and co-occurring disorders towards treatment at every stage of legal system involvement.

In 2023, NCSC received funding from the Sozosei Foundation to work with local jurisdictions to develop opportunities to divert people with mental health and co-occurring disorders from the criminal justice system. NCSC provided technical assistance to six jurisdictions around the United States to develop pre-adjudication diversion programs. The pilot jurisdictions assembled system-wide stakeholder teams to lead these efforts, while also contributing to the improvement of the revised Judge’s Guide to Mental Health Diversion.

In this NCSC webinar, you'll learn about the soon-to-be-released Judge’s Guide to Mental Health Diversion, how courts in Kentucky and Missouri used it to develop new diversion opportunities, and NCSC’s ongoing efforts to improve outcomes for people with mental health and co-occurring disorders.

Moderator:

- Michelle O’Brien, Principal Court Management Consultant, National Center for State Courts

Panelists:

- Honorable Steve Leifman, Associate Administrative Judge, Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida (Miami-Dade County)

- Honorable Nathan Carroz, Associate Circuit Judge, 12th Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri

- Honorable Kevin Mullins, District Judge of the 47th Judicial District Court of Kentucky

Introduction, 00:00

About the National Judicial Task Force Report: State Courts Leading Change, 01:46

Judge Steve Leifman (Florida): Judges’ Guide to Mental Health Diversion, 5:00

Sozosei Project, 17:25

Pilot Court: Judge Nathan Carroz (Missouri), 18:30

Pilot Court: Judge Kevin R. Mullins (Kentucky), 32:42

Case Study Video (Patrick), 40:32

Resources & Contact Information, 47:39

Question and Answer, 47:47

Closing Remarks, 1:01:29

Resources:

- https://nationalcenterforstatecourts.box.com/s/0dxjnpp70owlboi83zq8af7o2rhcc51l

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