Tag: Smart Justice
Mental Health & Police Reform: Are Intervention Teams Working?
RIGHT Care stands for Rapid Integrated Group Healthcare Team. It started in 2018 after a study from the Meadows Mental Health Institute found the number of mental health-related calls increased by 18 percent from 2012…
Community Response Team making a difference in mental health calls in Abilene, elsewhere
An alliance between Betty Hardwick Center and the Abilene Police and Fire departments to bring better response to mental health issues worked 1,654 calls for service in its first year. Its primary goal is to stop clients…
86th Legislature Regular Session Behavioral Health Appropriations
SUMMARY - An overview of appropriations to mental and behavioral health made by the 86th Texas Legislature. From a mental health perspective, the 86th Legislative Session was one of the most significant in recent...
Texas House Committees on Corrections and Criminal Jurisprudence
SUMMARY – During the 85th Legislative Interim, the House Committees on Corrections and Criminal Jurisprudence held a joint hearing. Senior Director of Smart Justice B.J. Wagner presented to the joint committees on the Rapid...
Texas House Committee on County Affairs
SUMMARY – In August 2018, during the 85th Legislative Interim, the House Committee on County Affairs met to hear invited and public testimony. B.J. Wagner, Senior Director of Smart Justice, was invited testimony and...
Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) Overview
In 2011, Seattle, Washington piloted the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program. LEAD, now growing across the country, is an evidence-based, collaborative, pre-arrest diversion program aimed at improving public safety by reducing drug use, drug…
Screening Form for Suicide & Medical, Mental, & Developmental Impairments
In response to 85(R) Senate Bill 1849, known as “The Sandra Bland Act”, Texas county jails were required to make changes to minimum jail standards as of September 1, 2017. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS)…
Texas Commission on Jail Standards Major Findings on SB 1849
Senate Bill (SB) 1849, referred to as “The Sandra Bland Act” (SBA) in this report, requires Texas county jails to make changes to minimum jail standards as of September 1, 2017. To address sections of…
Smart Justice: Texas Needs More Effective Alternatives Than Jail to Treat Mentally Ill
For decades, a best practice of health care systems reform has been to reduce higher-cost emergency health care by promoting more cost-effective primary care aimed at prevention and early intervention of illness and disease. It…