Subject:
Title
Program recommendation for the Criminal Justice, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse Reinvestment Grant submission.
label
Recommended Action:
Recommended Action
Approve the Public Safety Coordinating Council’s program recommendation for the Criminal Justice Mental Health and Substance Abuse (CJMHSA) Reinvestment Grant submission entitled “A Turning Point: Expansion of the Office of the Public Defender’s Pinellas County Jail Diversion Program.”
Body
Strategic Plan:
Ensure Public Health, Safety and Welfare
2.2 Be a facilitator, convener, and purchaser of services for those in need
Summary:
The CJMHSA Reinvestment Grant Program requires the oversite of a Planning Committee designated by the Board of County Commissioners (Board). In Pinellas County, the Public Safety Coordinating Council (PSCC) was designated as the Planning Committee by the Board on October 16, 2007 under Agenda Item #18.
Under the CJMHSA Reinvestment Grant process, the Public Safety Coordinating Council is to select and recommend a program for Board approval.
The PSCC released a competitive process which was posted online, announced in publicly held Council meetings, and emailed to community partners. Two solicitations were received. On August 8, 2016, the PSCC selected the program “A Turning Point: Expansion of the Office of the Public Defender’s Pinellas County Jail Diversion Program” for recommendation to the Board. The program is a partnership between the Public Defender’s Office and WestCare GulfCoast-Florida, Inc.
The selected project is the expansion of the Public Defender’s Jail Diversion Program that will offer a structured shelter/treatment program to 100 unduplicated individuals annually for three years. The program focuses on adults who have a substance use disorder, as well as, a co-occurring mental health condition, and have been charged with a crime. The primary goal is to divert high-risk individuals (high systems users) from arrest, prosecution, or incarceration to treatment and support services.
Anticipated outcomes include a decrease in recidivism, relapse, and risk factors/behaviors; and increases/improvements in employment, housing stability, self-sufficiency, overall health, and social connectedness. The proposed expansion is needed because the Office of the Public Defender reports that the number of eligible individuals (chronic inebriates with co-occurring behavioral health disorders) outnumbers the capacity of its current Jail Diversion program.
Background Information:
The CJMHSA Reinvestment Grant Program was created by the 2007 Florida Legislature by s.394.656, F.S., and is housed within the Department of Children and Families. The purpose of the grant funding is for counties to plan, implement, or expand initiatives that increase public safety and avert increased spending on criminal and juvenile justice systems. Funds also go toward programs that improve the accessibility and effectiveness of treatment services for adults and juveniles who have a mental illness, substance abuse disorders, or co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders, who are in, or at risk of entering, the criminal or juvenile justice systems. The Public Defender was previously awarded a three (3) year CJMHSA Reinvestment Grant that ended in February 2014.
Established in 2004, the Public Defender’s Pinellas County Jail Diversion Program has served 5,480 clients through 2015 with a decrease in arrest percentage of 93%. Fiscal Year 2017 (FY17) funding is budgeted for $794,480.00, which includes the Jail Diversion, Minor Chronic Inebriate and Incompetent to Proceed Programs.
Fiscal Impact:
The CJMHSA Reinvestment Grant application is for $400,000.00 per year for up to three (3) years. Local matching funds are required equal to the total amount of the grant. The Public Defender will provide a cash match as follows: five percent (5%) in the first program year, ten percent (10%) in the second program year and fifteen percent (15%) in the third program year. WestCare GulfCoast-Florida, Inc. will complete the balance of the match from in-kind resources.
Staff Member Responsible:
Lourdes Benedict, Director, Human Services
Partners:
Public Safety Coordinating Council
Public Defender, Sixth Judicial Circuit
WestCare GulfCoast-Florida, Inc.
Vincent House
Attachments:
OMB Intent to Apply
Program Summary - A Turning Point: An expansion of the Office of the Public Defender’s Pinellas County Jail Diversion Program
Request For Applications - CJMHSA Reinvestment Grant 2016