San Joaquin County Behavioral Health has a division to provide intensive mental health services in collaboration with our probation department, courts, and local law enforcement to help reduce the recidivism and incarceration of adults with mental health and/or substance use disorders.
The Justice and Community Integration Division (JCID), which was formerly known as the Justice and Decriminalization Division, works collaboratively with our law enforcement and community partners to provide a full range of behavioral health services for adults that are justice involved or at risk of justice involvement.
The Justice and Decriminalization Division was recently rebranded to better reflect the nature and purpose of this division which is to help integrate individuals who are justice involved and have a mental health or co-occurring substance use disorders, back into the community.
Utilizing community reintegration paradigm established by current California Law to reduce the state prison population, The AB 109 Program serves clients who are under Post Release Community Supervision and Mandatory Supervision, who meet Specialty Mental Health Criteria through San Joaquin County Behavioral Health Services.
This program provides enhanced strength-based case management services in collaboration with probation and community partners. Individualized treatment plans are based on behavioral health assessments, medication evaluation, and criminogenic needs. Services may include medication management, individual and group therapy, as well as case management services to provide referrals and linkages to resources in the community. The intensity and duration of supportive services are based on individualized client needs and appropriate levels of care.
AB 109 is focused on serving individuals who have previously committed non-serious felonies, with probationary requirements at the County level.
Jail In-Reach services will be provided to clients while incarcerated to connect eligible members to community-based care, offering them services up to 90 days before their release to stabilize their health conditions and establish a plan for their community-based care (collectively referred to as “pre-release services”).
JCID’s Forensic FSP works in partnership with San Joaquin County Jail, Correctional Health Services, the Collaborative Court System, the Probation Department, and other justice agencies, to provide a full spectrum of mental health services to Justice-involved Adults 18 and over, with a diagnosed mental illness or co-occurring substance use disorder, who are participating in problem-solving, collaborative courts in San Joaquin County or other formal diversion programs. Forensics’ FSP staff work in collaboration with the justice system to reduce recidivism rates. Services include assessment, identification, outreach, support, linkage, and interagency collaboration in the courtroom and to supervising Probation Officers to help ensure a successful reentry and transition into the community for justice-involved individuals.
The Adult Behavioral Health Court is a problem-solving court and release program that combines judicial supervision with community mental health treatment and other supportive services to reduce criminal activity and improve quality of life of participants with a focus on wellness, recovery, and community collaboration.
The Department of State Hospitals (DSH) Conditional Release Program - is a statewide system of community-based services which treats patients with the following commitment types: Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity, Incompetent to Stand Trial, Mentally Disordered Offenders, and some parolees who have been released to outpatient status.
CONREP was mandated as a state responsibility in 1984 and began operating in 1986. Its patients have typically experienced lengthy hospital stays and, in some cases, served full prison sentences.
The goal of CONREP is to ensure public protection in California communities while providing an effective and standardized outpatient treatment system.
Most patients in the CONREP program have gotten there after a lengthy stay in a state hospital. Once psychiatric symptoms have been stabilized and the patients are considered no longer to be a danger, the state hospital medical director recommends eligible inpatients to the courts for outpatient treatment under CONREP. Individuals must agree to follow a treatment plan designed by the outpatient supervisor and approved by the committing court. The court-approved treatment plan includes provisions for involuntary outpatient services. In order to protect the public, individuals who do not comply with treatment may be returned to a state hospital.
CONREP patients receive an intensive regimen of treatment and supervision that includes individual and group contact with clinical staff, random drug screenings, home visits, substance abuse screenings and psychological assessments.
The state budget provides 100 percent of the funding for CONREP's intensive level of assessment, treatment, and supervision. The DSH contracts with county mental health programs and private agencies to provide services.
The Innovative Support Program in Recovery and Engagement (InSPIRE) program serves individuals between the ages of 18-59 who are hesitant or resistant to engaging in mental health treatment. InSPIRE strives to find additional pathways to mental health services for hesitant or reluctant clients to improve individual well-being and create a safer community. A key element of InSPIRE is Enthusiastic Engagement. Enthusiastic Engagement can be defined by daily contacts to build rapport and provide a framework for voluntary mental health treatment. The goal is to engage clients, improve client stability, self-sufficiency, maintain engagement in outpatient treatment services, support placement in safe and stable housing environments, and provide individualized safety plans for clients and their family as needed.
Pre-Trial services will be a partnership between SJC County Probation and BHS that is catered toward individuals pending trial for minor crimes, who struggle with mental illness and/or co-occurring disorder. Treatment services are provided as an alternative to incarceration.
The Restart outpatient program provides intensive outpatient services and care coordination to help reduce jail and hospital recidivism, reduce time in custody, and reduce overall justice involvement, by providing culturally responsive outpatient services to individuals with behavioral health challenges who are justice involved or at risk of justice involvement.
On September 14, 2022, the Governor approved SB 1338, which enacted the CARE Act. The CARE Act creates a process, called the CARE Process in California’s civil courts to provide earlier action, support, and accountability for both individuals with untreated schizophrenia spectrum or psychotic disorders, and the local governments responsible for providing behavioral health services to these individuals.