What: On March 30, 2020, the Conference of Chief Justices and Conference of State Court Administrators established the National Judicial Task Force to Examine State Courts’ Response to Mental Illness with a charge to “assist state courts in their efforts to more effectively respond to the needs of court-involved individuals with serious mental illness.” After a multi-year investigation, the National Judicial Task Force to Examine State Courts’ Response to Mental Illness will release its findings and recommendations, to assist state courts to respond to the needs of court-involved individuals with serious mental illness. 

Marcia Meis, Director of the Administrative Office of Illinois Courts served on the Task Force Executive Committee and Co-Chaired the Education, Partnership, and Implementation Work Group along with Hon. Loretta H. Rush, Chief Justice, Indiana. Illinois Fourth Appellate Justice, Hon. Kathryn Zenoff, also served as a member of the work group.  

The Illinois Courts will build off the work of the Task Force with a state specific action plan that is under development and anticipated to be propagated in early 2023.  

Who: Chief Justice Paul L. Reiber (Vermont) and Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks (New York), co-chairs of the Task Force, will present highlights from the report at a virtual news briefing. Commentary and reactions will be offered by Dr. Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Mental Health and Substance Use; Dr. Sarah Y. Vinson, Interim Chair, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Morehouse School of Medicine; and Judge Nan Waller, Multnomah County, Oregon, recipient of NCSC’s 2022 William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence. 

When: Tuesday, October 25, 2022, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time

Where: Virtual Event on Zoom Webinar. Register for Examining mental health & the courts: A roundtable discussion with national experts

Did you know? 

•    On any given day, approximately 380,000 people with mental illnesses are in jail or prison across the U.S., and another 574,000 are under some form of correctional supervision.
•    For too many individuals with serious mental illness, substance-use disorder, or both, the justice system is the de facto entry point for obtaining treatment and services.
•    The prevalence of mental illness in the United States has an enormous impact on states and communities and a disproportionate impact on our state and local courts.
•    People with mental illnesses in the U.S. are 10 times more likely to be incarcerated than they are to be hospitalized. Every year, approximately 2 million arrests are made of people with serious mental illnesses.
•    More than 70 percent of people in American jails and prisons have at least one diagnosed mental illness or substance-use disorder, or both. Up to a third of those incarcerated have serious mental illnesses.
•    It is not just a criminal justice issue. Adults, children, and families with behavioral health needs impact every aspect of the court system, including civil, probate, domestic relations, guardianship, juvenile, and child welfare cases.