Criminal Justice Policy Coalition
Ashe Speech, Summary Full Ashe Text Realities and Costs
Arrest Diversion Dual Diagnosis Post-Release
Policy Reform Juvenile Justice Mental Health, Drug Courts
Harm or Help: Responding to the Criminalization of Mental Illness and Addiction A conference at the Hoagland-incus Conference Center of the UMass Medical School on September 20, 2004: an overview
The recently concluded conference, “Harm or Help: Responding to the Criminalization of Mental Illness and Addiction” had several goals. The conference, conceived by Patrice Brymner, consultant for CJPC, was shaped with the help of individuals from the Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery, the Drug Policy Forum of Massachusetts, and Massachusetts chapters of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and of the National Association of Social Workers. Beyond addressing the substantive issues discussed elsewhere in this issue, this planning group sought to bring together a diverse group to open a dialog. The group reached out to law enforcement personnel, social workers, clinicians, court personnel, advocates, policy makers, and community members, inviting them to discuss collectively the challenges of addressing mental illness and addiction in the criminal justice system. They hoped that, together, this spectrum of interests could identify concerns, learn from each other, and find ways to move forward.
To be effective in building a real coalition to move forward, the group knew it would have to draw participants from all around Massachusetts. To that end, a central location – Worcester, roughly in the center of the state - was chosen to create better access to more communities.
The conference was successful in reaching that audience. Attendees included attorneys, judges, social workers, professors, psychologists, nurses, doctors, correctional officers, police officers, activists, clients, and consumers from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. From within Massachusetts alone, people traveled from about 50 communities from within 12 of the Commonwealth’s 14 counties – the only counties not represented were Dukes and Nantucket.
The day opened with a keynote address, “Progressive Criminal Justice with Sensible Public Safety”, delivered by Michael J. Ashe Jr., Sheriff of Hampden County. The keynote was followed by a morning plenary discussion on “Current Realities and Costs”. After lunch, participants attended two of six workshops on specific subjects. A concluding wrap-up session attempted to identify the requirements to keep the dialog begun, open for future work together. As plans emerge, CJPC will keep the membership informed.