Invest in Community Behavioral Health, Diversion Programs and Reentry Services to Save Corrections Dollars. This fact sheet, created leveraging data from the USC Schaeffer Center, provides details how individuals with serious mental illness are overrepresented in the criminal justice system. The ask, in addition to continuing to support critical diversion and re-entry programs across the state, is for lawmakers to support full funding for Close to Home and Raise the Age implementation to ensure that young people who are criminally involved have opportunities to access needed services including behavioral health programming to reduce recidivism and increase positive community integration. An editable word document is available for personalized advocate use.
Announcement Date: March 24, 2018
