Crisis and Diversion Grant Funding Webinar

The Texas Behavioral Health and Justice Training Center is hosting a webinar to highlight federal funding opportunities for local crisis and diversion programs, including expert discussion of Bureau of Justice Assistance grant programs and strategies for competitive applications. The webinar will take place on February 22, 2024 from 10:30-12:00 PM CST. Register here!

Additionally, Rulo Strategies provides weekly federal funding updates. Sign up here for these funding alerts. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is also hosting the webinar “Funding Opportunities for Your Community in 2024” which spotlights programs BJA plans to find in 2024 and includes information about eligibility requirements, funding amounts, and application resources. Register for this webinar series here.

Reentry Peer Specialist Certification Training

Via Hope is now accepting applications for Reentry Peer Specialist Training on March 18-23, 2024. This virtual training is for formerly incarcerated individuals who have had a mental health or substance use challenge and wish to help other people through the recovery and reentry process and is designed to address the barriers many people face after release and the trauma of incarceration. Additional information and registration are available here.

Rural Texas Health Care Challenges Forum

The Texas Tribune is facilitating a conversation about rural health care challenges, including mental health, online and in-person in Tyler on February 16. This discussion will include community health models, focus and innovation on rural health care issues, and the future of health care in rural Texas. Additional information and an RSVP link are available here.

Guidance for Judges on Mental Health Diversion Strategies

The National Center for State Courts has published a revised Judges’ Guide to Mental Health Diversion to help judges promote and implement diversion strategies. In the guide, NCSC shares information about effectively guiding individuals with mental illness or co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders toward appropriate treatment and away from the court system. The guide focuses on jail diversion systems, post-arrest, and pre-plea, and includes recommendations for screening and using assessment tools to identify diversion candidates. NCSC also hosted a Mental Health Diversion webinar in December 2023 on “Lessons from the Field.”