The Jennings County Courthouse in Vernon is pictured. Officials in Jennings and Jackson counties recently gathered nearby in North Vernon for a workshop with a goal of plotting resources and gaps in mental health services and utilizing those services to support diversion from the criminal justice system.
NORTH VERNON — Helping better guide, serve and divert people with behavioral and mental health challenges from the criminal justice system was a focus of a meeting last month involving stakeholders from Jennings and Jackson counties.
On April 15 and 16, Jennings County and several Jackson County stakeholders representing local government, the criminal justice system, mental health providers (including those with lived experience and peer support), and social services providers participated in a Sequential Intercept Model (SIM) Mapping workshop at Elsner Hall at the Education Training Center in North Vernon.
The goal was to develop a “map” to illustrate and guide how people with behavioral health needs encounter and flow through the criminal justice system.
Two main goals of the workshop were to plot resources and gaps in mental health services and to utilize those services to support diversion from the criminal justice system. Then a strategic action plan is structured and implemented over the next 12 to 24 months with regular meetings to oversee the execution of the plan.
SIM Mapping also introduces agency leaders to emerging best practices and evidence-based solutions. It provides an environment where participants can network and share what their agency can provide to the local community. The SIM Mapping workshop provided the participants with essential skills to provide a more complete response to local mental health crisis events.
The SIM Mapping was offered at no cost to and was instructed by a team of trained and skilled professional officials from National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Indiana and Indiana SIM Mapping Network.
