Attorney General Mike DeWine
Task Force on Criminal Justice and Mental Illness Report Released

(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine today released the first annual report for the Attorney General's Task Force on Criminal Justice and Mental Illness.

The Attorney General's Task Force on Criminal Justice and Mental Illness was established in 2011 to address the significant number of individuals with mental illnesses who are involved in the adult and juvenile criminal justice system. The task force, which is co-chaired by retired Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, retired, and evolved from a similar committee, the Advisory Committee on Mental Illness and the Courts (ACMIC), which she started in 2001.

"As a prosecuting attorney, I learned early in my career that people facing mental health problems could too easily get caught in the 'revolving door' of our criminal justice system, receiving jail or prison time rather than the treatment they needed," said Attorney General DeWine. "Although we won't solve many of the issues involved in our mental health system overnight, this task force is effecting real change, which will create a better environment for Ohio families, individuals with mental illness, their loved ones, and peace officers across the state."

The report, which can be found on the Ohio Attorney General's website, outlines the broad range of projects the task force has worked on regarding issues of mental health and the criminal justice system, including:

Allocating nearly $500,000 from Attorney General's Office court case settlements to a variety of pilot projects to enable law enforcement and community organization to more effectively help people with mental health concerns.

Revising the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission's basic peace officer training curriculum to help officers better recognize observable characteristics of people in crisis and utilize practical deescalation techniques to assist them.

Allocating $245,000 in grants to the Ohio chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, including a grant to provide law enforcement with additional Crisis Intervention Team (CIT).

The Task Force is composed of state agency representatives, law enforcement, judges, and mental health professionals who meet regularly to increase public safety and reduce the number of persons with mental illness trapped in the criminal justice system.