Dallas County Smart Justice Planning Project, Phase One

Across the nation and in Texas, the toll of mental illness is staggering. Nationally, about 20 percent of people in local jails are estimated to have a “recent history” of a mental health condition, almost three-quarters of whom also have substance use disorders. Once incarcerated, people with mental illnesses tend to stay in jail longer and upon release are at a higher risk of returning to incarceration than those without these illnesses.

With support from the W.W. Caruth, Jr. Foundation at the Communities Foundation of Texas, in 2015, MMHPI launched a county-wide planning project to identify strategies to improve outcomes for people with mental illnesses within the Dallas County justice system.

The primary objective of the project was to improve public safety by developing a comprehensive multi-year plan to reduce and eventually eliminate the use of the Dallas County Jail for treating people who primarily have psychiatric needs, and who do not otherwise need to be incarcerated. The project had two phases: Phase One assembled facts to inform the plan. This document provides an overview of the methodology, findings and recommendations from Phase One.

In Phase Two, project partners, the CSG Justice Center, Dallas County, the Caruth Police Institute, Parkland Health & Hospital System (Parkland), and the Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation will work together with stakeholders from across the country to draft the plan.

Read more about the results of this project in the Dallas Smart Justice Project case study.