In 1841, Dorothea Dix was appalled by the conditions she observed in Massachusetts jails and crusaded for more humane responses to the needs of those inmates with mental illnesses. Within a decade her work was translated into therapeutic state run institutions that traded punishment for care. Over the next century, without sustained commitment to Dix's vision for recovery, these facilities fell into disrepair to the point that today, hundreds of thousands of people with mental illnesses crowd our county jails and state prisons.

In recent years, Arizona has incarcerated a higher number of people suffering from mental disabilities than almost any other state in our nation. David's Hope is dedicated to seeing that change and to improving criminal justice mental health collaboration in Arizona and across the nation. In 2014 we officially launched our David's Hope Criminal Justice Mental Health Collaboration Project. Our efforts continue to focus on Crisis, Corrections, Diversion, Juvenile Justice and Reentry. The David's Hope Criminal Justice Mental Health Collaboration Project will continue to build on the foundation we have laid in the Arizona Mental Health and Criminal Justice Coalition. David's Hope was asked to take the leadership of the coalition in 2012 and since that time we have continued to build a grass roots movement which is reaching into the halls of government.

As partners together we reach out to both officials in government, representatives of mental health and substance abuse treatment providers and recipients of mental health services to promote cross system collaboration. David's Hope promotes evidence based practices which will keep our communities safer by closing the revolving door of those with mental illness and addictions recycling through our jails and prisons. We work to improve access to and participation in, effective mental health and addiction treatment, which will save our taxpayer dollars from being wasted on expensive back end fixes after crisis erupts.

Supporting Our Returning Citizens.

The majority of all prisoners will return to our communities. Our coalition serves the formerly incarcerated by offering them the tools they need to rebuild hope for themselves and for those whose lives they touch.

David's Hope recognizes that excessive barriers which discourage and prevent former prisoners from reentering their communities after periods of incarceration are often well meaning but misguided attempts at keeping our communities safer. Our Coalition seeks to create partnerships with government and private business to identify and eliminate excessive hardships placed on men and women leaving our correctional systems.

In 2010 under the leadership of then Arizona's U S Attorney, Dennis Burke, the Arizona Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee (LECC) was formed. The committee sought input from federal, state, and local corrections, probation officers and law enforcement officers as well as the faith community and dozens of other reentry stake holders. The recommendations for program design were called the Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee Weed and Seed Reentry Initiative 2010. Although the committee no longer formally exists, David's Hope endeavors to keep the effort alive and in the mainstream of reentry efforts in Arizona. Most of the mission and goals below have been derived from the work of the Weed and Seed Committee.

Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee Weed and Seed Reentry Initiative
Author: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Arizona

Mission of the Reentry Initiative

The Arizona Mental Health Criminal Justice Reentry Initiative works to bring together a broad coalition of stakeholders in order to promote the successful reintegration of the formerly incarcerated, to reduce crime and recidivism, to increase the safety of our communities and to ensure the rights and safety of victims of crime.

Within the criminal justice system we are working to increase the recognition of mental illness as an organic brain disease which affects behavior. We seek to secure mental health treatment rather than incarceration for those who have been responsible for breaking our criminal codes due to untreated symptoms of their mental illness. In conjunction with this effort, David's Hope is working across Arizona to improve outcomes of individual recovery for those who are in need of Court Ordered Treatment (COT) also widely known as Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT). We must hold our public mental health care providers accountable for outcomes. On average, people with mental illnesses remain incarcerated eight times longer than people without mental illnesses arrested for the exact same charge, at a cost seven times higher. With little treatment available, many individuals cycle through the system for the majority of their adult lives. By demanding transparency and accountability from our mental health and criminal justice systems, we know our cities will remain safer. As we decrease the effects of untreated mental illness in our nation, we will bring common sense solutions to problems such as substance abuse and homelessness. It is treatment not incarceration, that will equip those who suffer with mental illness to maintain wellness for themselves and our communities.

David's Hope leads the Arizona Mental Health Criminal Justice Coalition. The coalition's mission is to promote a full range of opportunities, from diversion to re-entry, for those with mental illness engaged in our criminal justice system. The coalition's vision is, prevention, diversion, and reintegration.

Through public consensus David's Hope provides feedback to behavioral health providers, as to effective policies which will reduce crimes that are occurring as a result of improperly treated mental illness. We work to provide detailed input to probation and parole departments regarding the safety of those with mental health issues. Within our collaboration of stakeholders, we identify lapses in care to those within the justice system who are suffering from mental illness and promote system improvements which will prevent recidivism

David's Hope is creating a statewide coalition which will promote the use of best practices in Arizona's mental health and criminal justice systems. We invite both individuals and organizations to become a part of our formal network. We will be addressing such issues as safety and health care in our jails and prisons, ending the practice of placing individuals diagnosed with a mental illness in solitary confinement, reforming mandatory sentencing laws and limiting the practice of sentencing juveniles in the adult system.

David's Hope works to promote the use of the Sequential Intercept Model (SIM) across Arizona's criminal justice and mental health systems. The SIM brochure can be found at the following link, with an introduction and description below, as found on the brochure, which is published by Policy Research Associates.
https://www.prainc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/SIM-Brochure-Redesign0824.pdf

Sequential Intercept Model as a strategic planning tool.

The Sequential Intercept Model is most effective when used as a community strategic planning tool to assess available resources, determine gaps in services, and plan for community change. These activities are best accomplished by a team of stakeholders that cross over multiple systems, including mental health, substance use, law enforcement, pretrial services, courts, jails, community corrections, housing, health, social services, people with lived experiences, family members, and many others. Employed as a strategic planning tool, communities can use the Sequential Intercept Model to: 1.Develop a comprehensive picture of how people with mental and substance use disorders flow through the criminal justice system along six distinct intercept points: (0) Community Services, (1) Law Enforcement, (2) Initial Detention and Initial Court Hearings, (3) Jails and Courts, (4) Reentry, and (5) Community Corrections 2.Identify gaps, resources, and opportunities at each intercept for adults with mental and substance use disorders 3.Develop priorities for action designed to improve system and service-level responses for adults with mental and substance use disorders

The Arizona Mental Health Criminal Justice Coalition seeks to be inclusive of a diverse range of reform issues and to be a catalyst which will reduce the numbers we incarcerate, while providing better outcomes through treatment and diversion opportunities. Incarceration can not cure or alleviate the effects of mental health and substance use disorders but treatment can. David's Hope needs you to help make our cross system collaboration a success, so give us a call today.