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Healthy Minds Network Receives One of Five Grant Awards in U.S.

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Healthy Minds Network receives one of five grant awards in U.S.

by Healthy Minds Network | Feb 11, 2016

MONTGOMERY, AL – The Healthy Minds Network was notified on Jan. 5 by SAMHSA’s GAINS Center for Behavioral Health and Justice Transformation that Montgomery County and the Healthy Minds Network had been selected to receive one of the 2016 Sequential Intercept Mapping workshops. Matthew Robbins, Project Assistant, Policy Research Associates, Inc., in Albany, N.Y., stated, “This year’s solicitation was especially competitive — we received 75 applications for just five awards.”

Linnea Conely, a consultant at SummaSource at Auburn University at Montgomery, wrote the grant and has been the lead on this project on behalf of the River Region Healthy Minds Network. She states, “Our team came together quickly to apply for this grant; what we learn from the workshop in Montgomery County will be duplicated in Autauga, Elmore and Lowndes counties, which are the other three counties served by the Montgomery Area Mental Health Authority.”

Sequential Intercept Mapping (SIM) is a dynamic, interactive tool for developing criminal justice-mental health partnerships that is being used by communities to assess their resources, gaps and opportunities at each of five “intercept points.” The mapping exercise aims to identify potential opportunities for diversion, or alternative justice and behavioral health interventions for persons with mental illness and co-occurring disorders, within each of the five intercepts.

The five intercept points are:

  1. Pre-arrest/first contact with the Criminal Justice System (dispatch, law enforcement, crisis centers/teams, emergency services)
  2. Post-arrest (initial detention/booking, arraignment/initial court hearing, referrals to specialty courts, pre-trial services)
  3. Jails, courts
  4. Prisons, jail re-entry, prison re-entry
  5. Probation, parole, community supports (housing, vocational/peer support)

The 1.5-day workshop will take place March 16-17. Workshop participants will include leaders from mental health, law enforcement, the courts, and local hospitals, as well as mental health consumers and their advocates.

Lynn Beshear, executive director of Envision 2020, states, “This award is further proof of the tremendous value of setting aside differences to focus on common goals. Our selection is both affirming and energizing, and those who participated in the work to win this grant are to be congratulated for their commitment and vision for a better future in the River Region.”

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