Changing Directions
The Intersection of Public Health and Criminal Justice
Mass incarceration is one of the major public health challenges facing the United States, as the millions of people cycling through the courts, jails, and prisons every year experience far higher rates of chronic health problems, substance use, and mental illness than the general population.
In this interview, David Cloud, Senior Program Associate for Vera's Substance Use and Mental Health Program, unpacks the public health implications of mass incarceration and the need to connect the criminal justice and health care systems.
The Intersection of Public Health and Criminal Justice
Creating a Recovery-Informed Framework for Integrated Mental Health and Criminal Justice Responses
The number of people diagnosed with serious mental illness in the U.S. criminal justice system has reached unprecedented levels. Increasingly, people recognize that the justice system is no substitute for a well-functioning community mental health system. Although a range of targeted interventions have emerged over the past two decades, existing ap ...
The Serious About Safety Majority campaign is building support for proven public safety strategies—and pushing back against a return to failed “tough-on-crime” policies.
Violent crime has plummeted in the United States, but politics threaten progress. Local leaders credit investments in community violence intervention, mental health and drug treatment, and youth engagement programs with helping to bring crime to historic lows.President Donald Trump’s senseless funding cuts to community-based public safety programs ...