Deinstitutionalization emptied America's asylums in the name of providing more humane treatment, but that approach has left many seriously mentally ill people on the streets, where, untreated, they can spiral into disorder and violent behavior-often putting them behind bars.
Leifman's success in disentangling the mentally ill from the criminal-justice system has won him numerous accolades, including a Public Official of the Year award from Governing and a Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence from the National Center for State Courts.
Any effort to keep mentally ill people out of jail must focus first on the point of contact with police.
While many communities provide mentally ill offenders with some alternative to incarceration, Leifman's initiative stands out because it reaches people both before and after they're arrested.
Talking up the CMHP also helps burnish the image of the criminal-justice system, Leifman maintains, letting the public know that "We're not just about locking people up."
Under the banner of "Housing first," homeless advocates have sought to discredit the value of temporary or transitional services in favor of permanent housing benefits, even for the severely mentally ill.
After almost 20 years of strenuous efforts by Leifman and his team, the Miami-Dade County jail still incarcerates about 1,200 seriously mentally ill people.
https://www.city-journal.org/miami-dade-criminal-mental-health-project%E2%80%8B
Leifman's success in disentangling the mentally ill from the criminal-justice system has won him numerous accolades, including a Public Official of the Year award from Governing and a Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence from the National Center for State Courts.
Any effort to keep mentally ill people out of jail must focus first on the point of contact with police.
While many communities provide mentally ill offenders with some alternative to incarceration, Leifman's initiative stands out because it reaches people both before and after they're arrested.
Talking up the CMHP also helps burnish the image of the criminal-justice system, Leifman maintains, letting the public know that "We're not just about locking people up."
Under the banner of "Housing first," homeless advocates have sought to discredit the value of temporary or transitional services in favor of permanent housing benefits, even for the severely mentally ill.
After almost 20 years of strenuous efforts by Leifman and his team, the Miami-Dade County jail still incarcerates about 1,200 seriously mentally ill people.
https://www.city-journal.org/miami-dade-criminal-mental-health-project%E2%80%8B
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