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Mental Health, Chemical Abuse and Dependency Services Division
Chinook Building
401 Fifth Ave., Suite 400
Seattle, WA 98104

Amnon Shoenfeld, Dir.
e-mail us
Phone:  206-263-9000
Fax:   206-296-5260
TTY:   711 Relay Service

Employee Directory

Department: Community and Human Services
Jackie MacLean, Director

King County Criminal Justice Initiatives (CJI)

King County implemented a range of programs and services in 2003 and 2004 to help people in the criminal justice system with unmet mental health or substance abuse needs connect to treatment services, stable housing, and other supports as alternatives to incarceration.

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The CJI are King County's post booking jail diversion programs.  To learn more about jail diversion for individuals with mental health and/or co-occurring substance use disorders, please see the SAMHSA Co-Occurring Disorders in criminal justice settings, GAIN Sequential Intercept Model and visit the National GAINS Center.  See also the Council for State Governments Consensus Project, the National Reentry Resource Center, and the Washington National Reentry Resource Center.

The CJI consists of three primary areas of service provision and reentry coordination:

1.  Discharge planning and liaison services (connector programs)
2.  Bridge programs
3.  Specialized forensic intensive service programs

One page overview of CJI

Goals

To provide services that are coordinated, effective and efficient that reduce jail time and the rate of re-offenses and offer individuals a better chance for successfully returning to their communities.  To ensure equity and social justice in King County by contributing to the decriminalization of mental health and substance use for individuals who are able to participate in treatment, housing, and other reentry services in order to reintrigrate back into our communities and prevent future involvement in the criminal justice system.

Service Programs/Process Improvements Implemented

  • Co-occurring disorder integrated treatment
  • Housing vouchers
  • Intensive outpatient chemical dependency treatment at the King County Community Center for Alternative Programs (CCAP)
  • Criminal justice liaisons
  • Jail based chemical dependency assessment / application worker
  • Department of Social and Health Services financial application and social workers
  • Cross-system training 

For more information on the Criminal Justice Initiatives contact Dave Murphy, Project Coordinator; or
Jessie Benet, Program Manager.