The increasing number of individuals with mental health and substance use conditions in the criminal justice system has enormous fiscal, health, and human costs. Diverting individuals with mental health and substance use conditions away from jails and prisons and toward more appropriate and culturally competent community-based mental health care is an essential component of national, state, and local strategies to provide people the supports they need and to eliminate unnecessary involvement in the juvenile and criminal justice systems.

In order to reduce involvement, support those who need services, and promote fairness throughout the criminal justice system, leaders in the mental health system, law enforcement officers, public defenders, prosecutors, court personnel, advocates, legislators, and others in the criminal justice system must come together to create a system that will improve outcomes for all.

Nashville wants and deserves to live in safe, vibrant neighborhoods. To that end, we must work to shelter and protect our unhoused neighbors, create housing that everyone can access, and ensure that what we’re building is maintained and adaptable for the various needs of the people who call our city home. The cost of incarceration can be five times the cost of treatment for a drug offender. The cost-benefit to taxpayers and crime victims per dollar spent on programs for an accused individual is lowest when they receive therapeutic treatment in prison and the highest when an accused individual receives non-prison therapeutic treatment. Other alternatives are Drug Court, Mental Health Court, or Veteran’s Court, with specific treatment for individuals with specific backgrounds.

Given that more than three-quarters of State offenders are re-arrested within five years of release (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2018), successful reintegration of formerly incarcerated persons returning to the community has become a critical aspect of correctional missions to improve public safety. Increasingly, evidence-based practices are reflected in approaches and programming, targeting people who have a medium to high risk of reoffending and tailoring services to meet certain needs has the greatest impact on lowering rates of recidivism. Breaking the cycle of reoffending and re-incarceration has many important implications for public safety and policy.