CBHJ and Michigan Mental Health Diversion Council host sixth annual Jail Diversion Summit for over 150 of Michigan's criminal/legal and behavioral health leaders

The Wayne State University School of Social Work Center for Behavioral Health and Justice (CBHJ) facilitated the sixth annual Jail Diversion Pilot Summit on August 20, 2020. The summit, an annual event hosted by State Diversion Administrator Steven Mays and the Michigan Mental Health Diversion Council (MMHDC), has evolved over the years. Traditionally held in Romney Building in Lansing, the event has brought together criminal/legal and behavioral health stakeholders from the ten funded Jail Diversion pilot counties from across the state to network and share information on their jail diversion efforts and best practices. Under the leadership of School of Social Work Dean Sheryl Kubiak, the CBHJ has served as the data and evaluation team for the pilot program since 2015. In 2019, the annual summit expanded to include stakeholders from Stepping Up counties that engaged in technical assistance provided by the CBHJ under a separate grant from the Diversion Council. This year, due to COVID-19, the summit moved to an online platform.

This year's virtual summit was attended by over 150 leaders and innovators from across the date, and featured opening and closing remarks from Dr. Debra Pinals (Medical Director of Behavioral Health and Forensic Programs, DHHS Designee to the MMHDC) and Hon. Milt Mack (State Court Administrator Emeritus and MMHDC Chair). In addition, four panels featuring stakeholders from Jail Diversion pilot and Stepping Up counties focused on the four key recommendations resulting from outcomes of the five-year Jail Diversion pilot program: 1) enhancing deflection and diversion for individuals with serious mental illness, 2) behavioral health and crisis response training for law enforcement, 3) standardized screening for mental health and substance misuse, and 4) "warm handoff": using boundary spanners for cross-system collaboration. These recommendations were also reflected in the work of the Michigan Joint Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration which issued its final report and recommendations in January 2020.

"Hearing from the stakeholders is always the highlight of the summit. They are the experts in their communities and we find that they can be quite novel and creative in addressing various needs," said Liz Tillander, Deputy Director of the Center for Behavioral Health and Justice, who facilitated the panel discussions. New ideas shared this year included a virtual co-responder program being launched in Genesee County and a collaborative effort between Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network, the Detroit Police Department, and Detroit's central business district to assist "familiar faces" (those individuals, often homeless and with mental health concerns) who the police and business owners regularly interact with in the city's business district. In addition, one panel focused on the various titles and roles that boundary spanners have within local systems revealing that these roles, typically attributed to improving continuity of care from jail to the community, vary widely from county to county. Finally, stakeholders from counties across the state that have implemented standardized screening for mental health and substance misuse at jail booking discussed the challenges and benefits associated with enhancing the booking process to improve identification of risks early in the process.

The summit also featured a brief introduction of the work that Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLES) is undertaking this year in response Governor Whitmer's authorization for MCOLES to, among other things, take specific steps directed at police reform including directing the Mental Health Diversion Council to make recommendations on best practices and training for law enforcement agencies when responding to situations involving persons with mental illness. MCOLES Executive Director Tim Bourgeois addressed the topic of law enforcement training at the top of a panel, focusing on the three primary law enforcement training models currently offered in the state including Crisis Intervention Team (CIT), Managing Mental Health Crisis (MMHC), and Michigan Crisis Intervention System (MI-CIS). Bourgeois stated "Thanks to our already existing and ongoing relationships with the Diversion Council, we were aware of three excellent programs-MI-CIS, MMHC, and CIT". Director Bourgeois emphasized that "this is only a start. This allows us to focus on those relationships and partnerships to holistically address the problems and challenges of behavioral health".

Visit the 2020 Jail Diversion Summit website to watch the recording of the summit and hear the expertise and innovations shared from the panelists across the state. Sign up for our newsletter to stay in touch with developments form Jail Diversion and other initiatives of the Center for Behavioral Health and Justice.

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