Background Material on Criminalization of the Mentally Ill:
The problem of "criminalization of the mentally ill": The CJ/CCoE was established in recognition that Ohio has not escaped the national problem that has been commonly referred to as criminalization of the mentally ill. The largest institutions for people with mental disorders are now our nation's jails and prisons. The police have become first responders when persons with mental illness are in crisis. Judges struggle with how best to respond to individuals with mental illness who increasingly present on their docket.
Complex solutions to complex problems: The CJ/CCoE and its partners recognize that this criminalization phenomenon has multiple causes and requires community-wide partnerships to develop systematic solutions. Collaboration between all stakeholders is necessary if people with serious mental disorders are to be diverted from unnecessary incarceration to appropriate treatment.
Sequential Intercept Model: Working with the National GAINS Center, the CJ/CCoE has been elaborating a model to encourage communities to approach jail diversion systematically, at multiple levels. The Sequential Intercept Model proposes that there are a number of "points of interception" or opportunities where an intervention can be made with a person with mental illness that will keep that individual from entering or going "deeper" into the criminal justice system. Conceptually, more people will be intercepted at each level than at the subsequent level. The current model includes:
- The Ultimate Intercept: Best clinical practices in an accessible mental health system
- Pre-Arrest Diversion: Law enforcement/emergency services (e.g. CIT)
- Post-arrest: Initial detention/initial hearings
- Post-initial hearings: Jail, courts, forensic evaluations, and forensic commitments
- Reentry from jails, state prisons, and forensic hospitalization
- Community corrections and community support
Other reference materials are available in PDF format
Clinical Director:
Mark R. Munetz, M.D.
Mark R. Munetz, M.D. is Chief Clinical Officer of the Summit County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board and Professor of Psychiatry at the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine (NEOUCOM). Dr. Munetz received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Dr. Munetz was an intern in psychiatry and internal medicine at the Lafayette Clinic and Hutzel Hospital in Detroit and completed his psychiatry residency at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh. He has held faculty positions at the University of Pittsburgh, University of Massachusetts, and Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Munetz has been the Director of Community Psychiatry at NEOUCOM since 1992. Dr. Munetz helped plan and implement the first Crisis Intervention Team training program in Ohio and was involved in the planning for the first Mental Health Courts in the state. A past president of the Ohio Psychiatric Association, Dr. Munetz has been recognized with an Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI).
Law Enforcement Liaison:
Michael S. Woody
Michael Woody retired from the Akron Police Department in 2002 after 25 years of service. His last 4 years he was the Director of Training for the Department. He graduated from the University of Akron with a Bachelor of Arts in Education Degree and was a secondary education school teacher before becoming a police officer. Mr. Woody sits on the Ohio Supreme Court's "Advisory Committee on Mental Illness and the Courts". He also chairs a subcommittee of that Court titled "Police Training". Mr. Woody is credited with bringing the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) program to Ohio in 2000 and helping to spread it throughout the state. He has received the National "Compassion in Law Enforcement Award", the Summit County, Ohio Mental Health Associations "Heart of Gold Award", and the Ohio Department of Mental Health "Forensic Leadership Award". Mr. Woody has consulted with police, mental health, and advocacy organizations throughout the country. Over the past 5 years Mr. Woody has been an independent contractor with the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine (NEOUCOM) as the Law Enforcement Liaison of their Coordinating Center of Excellence in Criminal Justice (CJ/CCoE). He is also on the Advisory Board of The National CIT Organization. In 2005 the First National CIT Conference was held in Columbus, Ohio with nearly 700 persons attending. Mr. Woody coordinated this historical event. Mr. Woody has consulted with the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Council of State Governments, National NAMI and the GAINS Center.
Research Director:
Christian Ritter, Ph.D.
Christian Ritter, Ph.D., is a sociologist at Kent State University and a member of the Graduate Faculty of the Akron-Kent Joint Ph.D. Program and an affiliate of the Department of Family Medicine at NEOUCOM. He received his Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of Kentucky and his post-doctoral training was in Psychiatric Epidemiology at the School of Hygiene and Public Health at The Johns Hopkins University, Department of Mental Hygiene. His areas of specialty are mental health, health and health care, and social psychology. His current research involves work stress and family processes and psychological well-being; identity and well-being; community perceptions of mental illness; stigma; and the effects of jail diversion programs for people with mental disorders. Recent publications have appeared in The Journal of Health and Social Behavior; Social Psychology Quarterly; Sociological Perspectives; Journal of Vocational Behavior; Health Psychology; and The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Since 1996, he has served as the American editor of Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Health and Illness, which is published by Sage Publications. He has also served on the editorial board of The Journal of Health and Social Behavior for three terms and currently serves on the Ohio Supreme Court's Advisory Committee on the Mentally Ill in the Courts.
Liaison for Mental Health Services in Jails:
Kathryn A. Burns, MD, MPH
Dr. Burns is a native of Cleveland and received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Cleveland State University and Medical Doctor Degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. She did her psychiatric residency training and a fellowship in forensic psychiatry at University Hospitals of Cleveland. Dr. Burns' clinical work has always been in the public sector, providing psychiatric care at community mental health centers, state psychiatric hospitals and local jails. Administrative work has also been entirely in the public sector and included Medical Director positions in the Ohio Prison System, state psychiatric hospitals and as the Chief Clinical Officer at the Cuyahoga County Community Mental Health Board, a position she held in the mid-1990s and returned to in 2002. Dr. Burns' also earned a Master’s Degree in Public Health at the Ohio State University and is particularly interested in the development of seamless systems of care. She was awarded the Ohio Forensic Mental Health Leadership Award by the Ohio Department of Mental Health in 2003.
Center Coordinator:
Natalie Bonfine, M.A.
Natalie Bonfine, M.A. serves as the Center Coordinator for the Criminal Justice Coordinating Center of Excellence. She is a Research Associate at Kent State University in the Department of Sociology. She is currently working with "The Quality of Life of People with Mental Illness" project funded by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and the Office of Criminal Justice Services. Since 2002, the team has been researching the effects of pre- and post-arrest diversion programs in Ohio. Ms. Bonfine received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Kent State University. She serves on the Supreme Court of Ohio's Advisory Committee for Mental Illness and the Courts and the Offender Reentry Coordinating and Strategic Planning Committee of Akron, Ohio. Her research interests include mental health across the life course, jail diversion for people with mental illness, and social psychology.
Ohio Department of Mental Health Lead to the CCoE:
Joe Krake
Joe Krake is the manager of mental health diversion alternatives in the Office of Forensic Services, Ohio Department of Mental Health. Mr. Krake also serves as one of three coordinators in the Community Linkage program, which arranges for continuity of care for inmates entering or leaving the prison system. Mr. Krake holds a Master of Science degree in therapeutic recreation from Indiana University in Bloomington, IN. He is a licensed social worker. He has served as mental health administrator at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio's maximum security prison. For five years, he was manager of the Flower Pot Greenhouse, a horticulture therapy and vocational program at Richmond State Hospital in Richmond, IN. Currently he serves on several inter-agency committees, including the Supreme Court of Ohio Advisory Committee on the Mentally Ill in the Courts, ODRC Reentry State Partners, the Ohio Brain Injury Advisory Council, and Partners in Justice.
NAMI Ohio Contact:
Betsy Johnson
Betsy Johnson joined NAMI Ohio (National Alliance on Mental Illness) in December 2006. As Associate Executive Director, her responsibilities include legislative advocacy, communications, and criminal justice activities. She oversees the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) program for the organization and coordinates NAMI Ohio's Mental Health Jail and Court Personnel Training program. Prior to joining NAMI Ohio, Betsy was the Associate CEO of the Ohio Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities since its inception in 2001.
