Project Leadership

A History of Collaboration

The Justice Center, National GAINS Center, and NAMI worked together on an effort to survey mental health courts across the country in 2003 and 2004. This project provided a precedent for the InfoNet, as well as the foundation for this strong partnership.

National Partnerships, Local Results

The degree to which these federal grantmaking agencies have come together through the InfoNet is perhaps best illustrated by the close partnership between the Justice Center and the National GAINS Center—the primary technical assistance providers for the U.S. Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (respectively) on criminal justice/mental health issues. On this and a variety of other projects, staff at the Justice Center and GAINS Center support each other to ensure that federal partners promote effective collaboration between criminal justice and mental health partners at the local level.

The extensive planning, research, and development behind the InfoNet requires ongoing collaboration between policy and grantmaking organizations dedicated to improving the response to people with mental illnesses involved with the criminal justice system.

The InfoNet is administered by the Justice Center in its role as coordinator of the Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project. With the development of the InfoNet specifically—and the ongoing efforts of the Consensus Project generally—the Justice Center receives invaluable assistance from key partners:

The National GAINS Center, primary technical assistance provider for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on criminal justice/mental health issues, offered its expertise on jail diversion to help plan the InfoNet
NAMI, the nation’s largest grassroots mental health advocacy group, tapped into its extensive membership to help distribute survey tools
The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), a leading policing policy organization, advised on the collection of law enforcement data

The InfoNet is made possible through the leadership, support, and collaboration of key federal agencies and private foundations. In the U.S. Department of Justice, the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), National Institute of Corrections (NIC), and Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) have helped see this work through; likewise, this project was made possible with support from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS). Private foundation support is provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.