 Lincoln-Logan County Probation along with Treatment Alternatives for
Safe Communities and Tazwood Mental Health Center announced that
Fred Osher, director of health systems and services policy with the
Council of State Governments, conducted a site visit to Lincoln on
Friday as part of a mental health planning grant received in 2009
for the Logan County Mental Health Initiative.Dr. Osher, a
psychiatrist with 30 years of experience working with individuals
with mental health disorders involved in the criminal justice
system, provides technical assistance to state and local governments
to improve their responses to this population. Osher was joined by
Hank Rosen, project assistant with the Council of State Governments.
They attended a forum involving the community partners who
participated in the initiative for the past year. The visitors
offered recommendations for implementation and sustainability.
The federal planning grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance
was one of 10 awarded nationwide. The Logan County Mental Health
Initiative, consisting of 25 community partners, met monthly for a
year to identify barriers to mental health services for individuals
involved with the criminal justice system and to develop a local
strategic plan to remove the barriers. In addition, the initiative
provided training for the community partners on mental health
matters.
The initiative will continue to collaborate to address local
issues. The grant, offered through the Justice and Mental Health
Collaboration Program, has three phases, and the group will apply
for the planning and implementation grant in the spring of 2011.
[Text from file received from
Logan County
Probation]
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