11 states join initiative modeled after Ohio mental health program

Supreme Court of Ohio Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton announced that four more states have joined a national initiative on mental illness and the courts designed to replicate the program started in Ohio (Source: “Eleven states now model mental health programs after Ohio's,” WKYC.com, Jan. 8, 2009).

There are now 11 states that have joined the Judge’s Criminal Justice/Mental Health Leadership Initaitive, which awards grant money to states that are interested in creating task forces to develop policies related to individuals with mental illness in the justice system.

Nearly a quarter of both state prisoners and jail inmates who have reported a having a mental illness have served three or more prior sentences, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statisitics.

"Increasingly, people with mental illnesses are becoming familiar faces in courtrooms and filling prisons and jails," Justice Stratton said. "Through extensive collaboration we are improving the outcomes of mentally ill persons in our justice system, and we continue to expand partnerships among branches of government and governmental agencies."