Partners in Diversion: Crisis and Criminal Justice Initiatives

Safe Harbor Behavioral Health&

Erie County Adult Probation/Parole

• Like other counties in Pennsylvania, Erie County has had a Criminal Justice Coalition for about the past 20 years. In many counties it is called a Criminal Justice Advisory Board, (CJAB).

•  • Our mission statement is to provide a forum for the advancement of Criminal

Justice Issues in Erie County. We strive to educate and inform the Erie Community in a proactive way by identifying and solving issues which affect criminal justice through open community forums, evaluating services, consulting with departments or agencies before major changes will be implemented, reaching out to the public through media sources, act as a clearing house for information, and building collaboration with the three branches on local, state, and federal levels to find solutions that benefit the community.

•  • PCCD has supported CJAB by encouraging counties throughout PA to establish

boards, also by making grants available to create CJAB and provide grants for CJAB sponsored projects like Cross System Mapping Workshops.

What’s a CJAB?

2

• Typically CJAB membership is diverse and broad-based representation of the community at large. Typically those invited to join are core group of criminal justice stakeholders from; County governing bodies, Judiciary,District Attorney, Public Defender, County Law Enforcement, Sheriff, Adult \Juvenile Probtion, Adult Corrections, Juvenile Detention, local victim organizations, local human service agencies(MH\da\id) and others as deemed appropriate by the membership.

• CRISIS

Who’s Included?

3

• An organized and systems-integrated examination of where people can be actively diverted from the criminal

justice system, when it is determined that the person is best served by other systems of care.

CJAB Approved Cross Systems Mapping

4

• Our initial workshop was pursued by our local prison warden James Veshecco due to the increase of persons with mental Illness coming in contact with the criminal justice system. He was a member of the coalition and played a very important role in planning and attracting 50 participants in attending the first day and a half workshop in June 2012.A day long follow up workshop was held earlier this year in June which brought together 29 participants. Our goal was to have an equal amount of criminal justice staff and human services staff at each Cross System mapping workshop.

 • Both Workshops were facilitated by Patricia Griffin PhD and

her staff from the PA. Mental Health and Justice Center of Excellence.

Cross Systems Mapping Begins

5

Intercepts: 1-5

6

• Various work groups were established as a result of the first mapping workshop based on identified strength and weakness priorities identified in intercepts 1-5.

• #1.Expand Crises Services• #2.diversion before 911-Intercept .5• #3.Improved communication across Intercept 2-5• #4.Housing

Cross Systems Mapping Priorities

7

8

9

• https://www.youtube.com/embed/qeW2YBzzSRA

Salt Lake City

10

• MHFA• ASIST• Police ‘drop off’• Police triage protocols• Onsite Crisis Training• Specialized Outreach phone lines• Cross Training• Monitoring of Police Response• Treatment Courts

Crisis Diversion Strategies

11