Evidence-Based Mental Health Interventions for People Interacting with Criminal and Legal Systems with Dr. Jennifer Johnson
People involved in the criminal and legal systems experience high rates of mental health and substance use disorders, yet access to evidence-based treatment remains inconsistent across communities. Strengthening mental health services throughout the criminal and legal systems continuum, from crisis response and law enforcement encounters to courts, jails, probation, and community supervision, can improve both health outcomes and reduce unnecessary involvement with the criminal and legal systems.
In this Ask the Expert video, Dr. Jennifer Johnson, C. S. Mott Endowed Professor of Public Health at Michigan State University, discusses the evidence behind 25 mental health interventions identified as effective for people involved in criminal and legal systems. She highlights research demonstrating that access to community-based mental health and substance use treatment can reduce legal involvement, while reviewing evidence-based approaches for conditions including suicidal thoughts and behaviors, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and substance use disorders. Dr. Johnson also explains how treatments such as safety planning interventions, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), family education, and appropriate medications can improve mental health outcomes when delivered across criminal and legal settings.
The conversation emphasizes the importance of expanding access to proven treatments and ensuring that communities have the resources needed to deliver high-quality behavioral healthcare. By implementing evidence-based practices across the criminal and legal continuum, communities can improve recovery, strengthen public safety, and help individuals receive the care they need before mental health challenges lead to deeper involvement with the criminal and legal systems.
The interventions discussed in this video are drawn from a study that identified 59 essential practices that counties can use to improve mental health outcomes for justice-involved populations. To learn more about the system-level practices included in the study, watch Evidence-Based Policies and Practices Across the Criminal Justice System with Dr. Faye Taxman.
Funding Support
This product was funded under The National Center for Health and Criminal-Legal Systems Integration for Suicide Prevention (NCHATS; P50MH127512; Johnson), a national research center funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
The contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of NIMH, NIH, or other participating sites.