The Conference of Local Mental Hygiene Directors (CLMHD), representing the County Mental Health Commissioners/Directors of Community Services (DCSs), have long recognized that individuals affected by mental illness and/or substance use disorders often encounter the criminal justice system and the county jails, due in part to behaviors related to their untreated or ineffectively treated mental illness or addiction. CLMHD set out to develop a process in which to obtain criminal justice system data sets from various resources (i.e., Jail Rosters, Arraignment Lists, Police Blotters, VINE, etc.) to compare against a select number of indicators within the statewide Medicaid database, Psychiatric Services and Clinical Knowledge System (PSYCKES). The purpose of this process is to identify individuals involved at various stages with the criminal justice system with Medicaid coverage and who have received mental health and/or substance use treatment prior to their involvement with the system. The Behavioral Health Criminal Justice Alert Tool was developed for LGUs to utilize in collaboration with county jails and the local court systems.
The Behavioral Health Criminal Justice Alert Tool provides a platform for various criminal justice system data sets (i.e., Jail Rosters, Arraignment Lists, Police Blotters, VINE, etc.) to be matched against data from Psychiatric Services and Clinical Knowledge System (PSYCKES). While this tool was created to support reintegration efforts, it can also be used for a variety of initiatives that require matching two excel files.