Lewis & Clark County
Kellie McBride, Director of Criminal Justice Services, and Judge Michael Menahan, First Judicial Court of Montana, sat down with JMI to discuss their experiences in the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) of Lewis and Clark County, Montana. Lewis and Clark County is located in western Montana, with a population of 72,223 (as of 2021). Their CJCC was formed in 2012 as a condition of grant funding from the Department of Justice to address jail overcrowding and explore alternatives to incarceration. Judge Menahan has served as the Chair since the inception of the CJCC, with Lewis and Clark County joining the National Network of Criminal Justice Coordinating Councils (NNCJCC) in 2018. The mission of reducing jail overcrowding and alternatives to incarceration is still a focus of Lewis and Clark’s CJCC today; however, the scope of work has significantly expanded over the years. The CJCC has worked to develop strong collaborations and programs with public agencies and service providers to address behavioral health and material needs, with support from across the community to reduce justice involvement.
Lewis and Clark’s CJCC operates multiple behavioral health diversionary programs, such as a misdemeanor probation program that redirects misdemeanor offenders with behavioral health disorders to therapy and other services. They also have a detention center focused on behavioral health where mental health professionals evaluate individuals to determine who can be diverted to hospitals or other behavioral health programs rather than jails. These programs reduce incarceration rates, jail population, and dependency on other stakeholders, such as emergency and other healthcare services.
The Citizen’s Advisory Committee (CAC) stood out as an example of Lewis and Clark County’s far-reaching commitment to involving the whole community in improving justice system outcomes. Committee members include former offenders, family members of system involved individuals, business people, and representatives from services providers who advocate for justice-affected individuals; the CAC performs background research and groundwork to make recommendations for the CJCC that shape initiatives and decision-making. The CAC Chair also serves as a member of the CJCC, providing a built-in platform for community voices. Regarding the participation of stakeholders as well as the community, Judge Menahan noted, “If you have people that are willing to step into these leadership roles and try to work with others to try to address the problems facing their community, you get more buy in. There’s more chance of participation of everybody […] So we start that dialogue, and we have that conversation, even though they’re sometimes difficult conversations, and [we] try to solve the problem.”
In addition to the work being accomplished by the CAC, other community stakeholders have committed to alternative practices to increase community safety and reduce incarceration rates in Lewis and Clark County. Good Samaritan Ministries works with local law enforcement to provide resources such as meals and hotel rooms for low-level offenders who do not pose a public risk. Law enforcement in Lewis and Clark County also receive crisis intervention training, and a mobile 24/7 crisis response team (MCRT) comprised of mental health professionals assists with diverting eligible offenders to behavioral health or crisis programs. While the MCRT was initially housed at the local hospital, they are now a mobile team and coordinate with law enforcement at the scene of individuals in crisis. The collaboration between law enforcement and behavioral health services offers safer solutions for the community, as well as individuals in crisis, while lessening the demand for justice services.
Beyond collaboration with service providers, there is also a focus on mental health as part of data expansion efforts. The CJCC is integrating a jail management and case management data system to track individuals’ point of contact for behavioral health information and pretrial services involvement for more comprehensive support. Data on pretrial resources and behavioral health management will allow case management to draw from the strengths of multiple organizations and create a more holistic and individualistic approach to justice-involved persons.
Judge Menahan’s words characterized the CJCC’s collaborative approach as a long-term commitment; “I think that the longer you are involved in this kind of thing and develop working relationships with all the different players, it demonstrates your commitment to solving a problem or addressing a problem. Some of these problems [are] never solved, but it just doesn’t happen overnight. It takes a long time.” Lewis and Clark County’s work serves as an exemplification to the impact of longstanding commitment from stakeholders, as well as the sheer range of those willing to make that commitment.