Pottawattamie County Alternatives to Incarceration Project

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2013

Alternatives to Incarceration project is an interagency collaboration working with 26 agencies and government departments, over 60 stakeholders and 8 workgroups to create systems change in the criminal justice system for individuals with mental health and substance abuse (MH/SA) needs in Pottawattamie County, Iowa. It is estimated that our county jail population has between 44% to 55% of inmates with possible MH/SA needs. Often, people come in and out of incarceration and hospitalization because of MH/SA needs creating a revolving door to these high expense services. Using the Sequential Intercept model from the GAINES Center, we are making strategic and intentional decisions to stop the revolving door for many individuals. We are working to identify where individuals enter and exit the criminal justice system. By collaborating, we can identify possible solutions to connect individuals to the right community service for the right care at the right time based on their entrance and exit to the criminal justice system. Our results have included the reduction of individuals being hospitalized, reduction of individuals being arrested that are homeless and intoxicated, connecting individuals to community resources, and building community collaboration to improve the quality of life in our county.