Middlesex County, Mass.: Building Regional Partnerships to Address Emerging Behavioral Health and Criminal Justice Trends

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County Examples & SolutionsMiddlesex County, Mass., is a large and diverse county encompassing 54 different cities and towns of various sizes. Throughout these jurisdictions, leaders were seeing similar trends in opioid-related crimes and fatalities and increasing law enforcement contact with people with co-occurring mental illnesses and substance use disorders.Middlesex County, Mass.: Building Regional Partnerships to Address Emerging Behavioral Health and Criminal Justice Trends
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Middlesex County, Mass.: Building Regional Partnerships to Address Emerging Behavioral Health and Criminal Justice Trends
Middlesex County, Mass., is a large and diverse county encompassing 54 different cities and towns of various sizes. Throughout these jurisdictions, leaders were seeing similar trends in opioid-related crimes and fatalities and increasing law enforcement contact with people with co-occurring mental illnesses and substance use disorders. The Middlesex Sheriff’s Office was seeing the impact on its jail population. In 2016, the county adopted a regional approach to combat these issues by establishing partnerships between the sheriff and chiefs of police from police departments within the county. As of June 2017, 21 of the 54 police departments within the county had joined the Data-Driven Justice initiative and assigned a staff person to work collaboratively to address these issues.
Middlesex County, Mass., is a large and diverse county encompassing 54 different cities and towns of various sizes.2017-09-06County Examples & Solutions2018-04-03
Middlesex County, Mass., is a large and diverse county encompassing 54 different cities and towns of various sizes. Throughout these jurisdictions, leaders were seeing similar trends in opioid-related crimes and fatalities and increasing law enforcement contact with people with co-occurring mental illnesses and substance use disorders. The Middlesex Sheriff’s Office was seeing the impact on its jail population. In 2016, the county adopted a regional approach to combat these issues by establishing partnerships between the sheriff and chiefs of police from police departments within the county. As of June 2017, 21 of the 54 police departments within the county had joined the Data-Driven Justice initiative and assigned a staff person to work collaboratively to address these issues.
In collaboration with the Stepping Up initiative, the Data-Driven Justice initiative and the One Mind Campaign, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) convened a Best Practices Implementation Academy to Reduce the Number of People with Mental Illnesses and Substance Use Disorders in the Criminal Justice System (the Academy) in June 2017 in Washington, D.C. SAMHSA contracted with Policy Research Associates (PRA), which operates SAMHSA’s GAINS Center for Behavioral Health and Justice Transformation, to facilitate the Academy. This case study is part of a series highlighting the six counties that constituted the “Best Practices” teams representing the Data-Driven Justice initiative and the Stepping Up initiative at the Academy.

About Nastassia Walsh (Full Bio)
Director of Programs and Operations
Nastassia Walsh is Director of Programs and Operations for the Counties Futures Lab at the National Association of Counties where she oversees the day-to-day management of NACo’s programs and networks that help counties across the country improve community outcomes on key local issues including criminal justice, health, behavioral health, economMore from Nastassia Walsh
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The Stepping Up Initiative
In May 2015, NACo and partners at the CSG Justice Center and APA Foundation launched Stepping Up: A National Initiative to Reduce the Number of People with Mental Illnesses in Jails.pagepagepage<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:100%" summary="call-out">
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Justice & Public Safety Steering Committee
All matters pertaining to criminal justice and public safety systems, including criminal justice planning, law enforcement, courts, corrections, homeland security, community crime prevention, juvenile justice and delinquency prevention, emergency management, fire prevention and control, and civil disturbances.pagepagepage<p>All matters pertaining to criminal justice and public safety systems, including criminal justice planning, law enforcement, courts, corrections, homeland security, community crime prevention, juvenile justice and delinquency preven
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NACo’s Opioid Solutions Center empowers local leaders to invest resources in effective treatment, recovery, prevention and harm reduction practices that save lives and address the underlying causes of substance use disorder.Reports & Toolkitsdocument10123:30 pmReports & Toolkits<p>NACo's Opioid Solutions Center empowers local leaders to invest resources in effective treatment, recovery, prevention and harm reduction practices that save lives and address the underlying causes of substance use disorder.
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Director of Programs and Operations(202) 942-4289
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