Congress passed the Fiscal Year 2006 Science, State, Justice Appropriations Bill in mid-November 2005, allocating $5 million in funding for the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act. Sponsored by 2005 AAP State Leadership honoree Senator Mike DeWine (R-OH) and Representative Ted Strickland (D-OH), the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act garnered seven co-sponsors in the Senate and 46 co-sponsors in the House, and was enacted late last year with near unanimous support from Congress
The Act builds upon an earlier federal grant program also sponsored by Senator DeWine and Representative Strickland, which provided federal funds and technical assistance for the creation of mental health courts throughout the country. Similarly, the new Act establishes a federal grant program for a broad array of criminal justice/mental health collaborative programs, including mental health courts, jail diversion and re-entry programs.
The $5 million in funding for this important new program represents a substantial increase over amounts appropriated for the original mental health courts program, and shows unusual bipartisan consensus about the need to increase efforts across the nation to foster collaboration and coordination between the criminal justice, juvenile justice, and mental health systems. Coming in a time of tight budgetary constraints, particularly for new programs, the allocation of funding in Fiscal Year 2006 reflects the tremendous efforts of Senator DeWine, who fought hard to secure these funds, as well as Representative Strickland, who has worked tirelessly throughout his tenure on Capitol Hill to address the problems of the criminalization of the mentally ill. Additional credit goes to Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL), Chair of the Science, State, Justice Appropriations Subcommittee; and Representative Frank Wolf (R-VA), Chair of the Science, State, Justice Appropriations Subcommittee, both of whom supported the inclusion of this funding.
The new program will be administered by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). BJA has not yet determined the criteria and schedule for applying for grants, but APAPO will provide further program updates as additional information becomes available. The Fiscal Year 2006 funding for the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act was one of APAPO’s priorities for 2005, and was one of our major initiatives during the State Leadership Conference in March. Thank you for all of your advocacy efforts to get this worthy program off the ground and congratulations!
