Division of Policy and Legislation

Criminal Justice and Mental Health Interface

The Criminal Justice & Mental Health Interface Office provides the interface between criminal justice and mental health services by:

• Facilitating the process of developing and maintaining relationships between the criminal justice and mental health services systems to achieve common goals;
• Promoting policies that will decriminalize mental illness;
• Seeking resources for establishing services to divert persons with mental illness from the criminal justice system to the mental health service system;
• Providing technical assistance to communities on identifying and developing systems that promote diverting persons with mental illness from the criminal justice system to the mental health services system;
• Participating in state and local activities to address the needs of persons with mental illness who are involved in the criminal justice system;
• Coordinating and facilitating the activities of the statewide Criminal Justice/ Mental Health Advisory Board, and
• Developing and maintaining training curriculum for personnel in the criminal justice and mental health systems.

For more information on the Criminal Justice & Mental Health Interface Office and for contact information for Liz Ledbetter, Mental Health Specialist, click here.