Criminal Justice

NACo's Criminal Justice Programs provide technical assistance to counties through a mix of educational programming on issues ranging from the methamphetamine epidemic, adults and juveniles with mental health/substance abuse needs coming into contact with local criminal/juvenile justice systems, and juvenile detention reform (the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative-JDAI).  Through these grant-supported projects, NACo helps counties find solutions to safely and effectively respond to methamphetamine abuse, divert individuals with mental illness from county jails, transition offenders exiting jail with co-occurring disorders to community-based mental health treatment and create community alternatives to unnecessary juvenile detention.  To carry out these program activities, NACo is supported by grants from Eli Lilly and Company, U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

For more information on NACo's criminal justice program, please contact Kati Guerra at kguerra@naco.org / 202-942-4279.

03/16/2010 - County Jail Diversion Forum in Allegheny County
NACo is hosting a County Jail Diversion Forum in Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), Pa., May 5-6. The forum will focus on diverting people with mental illness from the criminal justice system.

12/24/2009 - Bart Lubow Webinar Presentation
Bart Lubow, Director of Programs for High Risk Youth at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, presented on the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative on NACo's Dec 17, 2009 webinar.

10/13/2009 - Presentations and Materials from the NACo County Jail Diversion Forum
Presentations and materials from the NACo County Jail Diversion Forum, sponsored by Eli Lilly & Company. Forum took place Oct. 1-2, 2009, in Bexar County (San Antonio), Texas.

01/12/2010 - NACo County Resource Guide to Meth Prevention
This is a guide on meth prevention resources for counties. It explains local, state and federal resources for meth prevention, as well as non-profit resources.

11/04/2009 - Criminal Justice Newsletters
Each bi-monthly newsletter features current NACo news, national news, legislative updates, funding, resources, and technical assistance opportunities within the field of criminal justice.

08/14/2009 - Criminal Justice Newsletter July August 2009
The July/ August 2009 edition of the bimonthly Criminal Justice Newsletter, featuring local and national news, legislative updates, funding opportunities, notices of conferences, events, TA assistance, and more.

09/28/2009 - Jail Population Management: Elected County Officials' Guide to Pretrial Services
With support from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, NACo and the Pretrial Justice Institute have created a document about the importantce of pretrial services and the role county officials play in this issue.

01/08/2009 - State and County Collaboration: Mental Health and the Criminal Justice System (PDF)
This Issue Brief features three state/county collaborations. These collaborations are through many different avenues, such as legislation, programming, and blended funding. As collaboration at all levels is necessary for best results, we hope these programs serve as examples to others who are looking to do more collaborative work.

09/19/2008 - When They Can't Talk: Lives Are Lost (brochure)
Brochure for elected and public officials that describes current challenges with first responder interoperable communications and ways to support better interoperability.

09/01/2008 - Reentry for Safer Communities (PDF)
Effective county practices in jail-to-community transition planning for offenders with mental health and substance abuse disorders.

02/07/2008 - Issue Brief: Mental Health Diversion Grants
This publication focuses on NACo's Mental Health Diversion Grants that are awarded to counties across the country to divert nonviolent mentally ill individuals from jail into community-based treatment.

12/20/2007 - Counties Paying More For Inmate Health Care
Results from a snapshot survey on counties providing health care in jails.

07/02/2007 - Counties target mentally ill in jails through NACo grants
NACo annually awards seed grants to counties seeking to develop or expand a program to connect county jail inmates with mental health needs to treatment services in the community. Here's how some counties use their grants.