Public Works

CLICK HERE for more information on COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS!

CLICK HERE for more information on the HISTORY OF STAR WARS!

CLICK HERE for more information on BUILDING TOYS!

Mental Healthcare: Improving Public Safety And Maximizing Taxpayer Dollars

Community behavioral healthcare’s role in preventing crime and increasing public safety is one of our country’s best-kept secrets. And that’s a shame.

A few months ago, news reports focused on a third straight year of decreased crime rates across the United States, surprising law enforcement officials and other experts who predicted just the opposite, given the high rate of unemployment and the economic recession. In previous periods of economic stress, crime rates increased. Yet preliminary statistics for 2009, released by the FBI in late December, showed that rates for all types of crime had again decreased from the year before.

As analysts struggled to explain this anomaly, few (if any) mentioned the role of community behavioral and mental health services. Yet many health care professionals in the field know how important these efforts have been in this regard — and how much more can be accomplished.

Community behavioral and mental healthcare serves as an important partner for the criminal justice system, whether by providing treatment which prevents behaviors that could bring people into contact with law enforcement; training officers in how to deal with people with mental illness who are in crisis; or preventing recidivism by ensuring continued and coordinated treatment for people involved with the justice system, leaving the justice system, or both.

In these difficult financial times, it is especially important that our public works systems recognize and embrace their interrelatedness and work together to maximize public resources. At the same time, we must educate the public about how effective treatment for mental illness and additions disorder reduces crime, avoids expensive incarceration, helps people remain in or re-enter the community as contributing citizens, and enhances the quality of life of everyone in the community.

The interface between our public works systems often is frayed, if it exists at all. Yet there are pockets of excellence around the country that provide models for collaboration and cooperation, with promising results in both individual outcomes and taxpayer savings.

Collaboration Is Key -

The work of  mental and behavioral healthcare organizations around the nation helps prevent crime, reduce recidivism, and divert people with mental illness and substance use issues from incarceration into less expensive, and more effective, community-based treatment. These groups have sought creative ways to collaborate with the criminal justice system. In the past decades, it has been learned that:

>> Any cross-system program or strategy must be built on a firm foundation of mutual respect and understanding and on relationships that both grow out of and are nurtured by the collaboration.

>> Planning needs to be deliberate and incremental, with both short- and long-term common goals.

>> Processes, strategies, and results should be monitored and evaluated, and improvements should be made on the basis of findings.

>> Communication, including sharing and celebrating results, should be structured and ongoing.

>> Collaborations must be cost effective and sustainable, even in tough times. This is supported by the mutual advocacy and identification of new opportunities that evolve out of collaborative relationships, further strengthening commitment, and magnifying the impact of strategies and programs.

This is basic community development. It can be slow and at times frustrating, but experience has demonstrated that it is worth it — and that no substantive and lasting change can happen without it.

These relationships and tools expedite communication between the community behavioral health treatment provider and the jail’s treatment provider, ensuring that members receive support in navigating the criminal justice system while maintaining coordination of care.

Programs are being implemented today that are significantly decreasing the likelihood that a individuals suffering from <a href=”http://www.thenationalcouncil.org/”>mental illness</a> or <a href=”http://www.thenationalcouncil.org/cs/substance_use_disorders”>addiction disorder</a> will be detained in the jail system. Additional organizations have also begun training forensic peer mentors to provide support and advocate for members involved with the criminal justice system and is again offering crisis intervention training to law enforcement throughout the US.

Participants in the mental health court experienced a 50 percent overall reduction in subsequent criminal charges in the 2 years after being in the program. For example, the most recent annual figures for diversion programs in Tucson City Court and Pima County Justice Court show graduation rates of 97 percent and 92 percent, respectively — a total of 627 members of these community mental health organizations who avoided incarceration and had charges dropped.

The result has been fewer people with mental illnesses falling through the cracks. They have escaped the revolving door of the criminal justice system and are now experiencing meaningful recovery and success for the first time in their lives. There are innumerable people who have graduated from mental health court: even people the professionals thought would not be successful.

Current Conditions Demand Creativity

Collaborations are especially critical now. Federal and state governments face historic budget shortfalls, just as expenditures on corrections across the country are nearing a staggering $70 billion annually, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Some states are releasing inmates early, and many are increasingly relying on community supervision as an alternative to expensive incarceration.

At the same time, publicly funded behavioral health services — the very resources that can help ensure the success of these alternative justice approaches — are in grave danger of being cut.

With states struggling to cut costs and few lawmakers willing to consider new revenue sources, the result could be a mad, self-defeating scramble for funding among different systems and stakeholders. Alternatively, the behavioral health industry’s proactive engagement with criminal justice could create collaboration instead of chaos and lead to thoughtful changes and strategies that result in real improvements at both the systems and individual levels — not only to make the best use of dwindling dollars but to create stronger, more efficient, more effective, and more humane systems in the long run.

The status quo is being shattered by fiscal realities. We can seize this opportunity to create partnerships with criminal justice and to educate decision makers and the public about community behavioral healthcare’s critical role in the safe diversion and release of people with substance use issues and mental illness. We can make real connections between community behavioral healthcare and criminal justice. And by promoting our accomplishments to the larger community, we can emphasize our contribution to public safety.

About the Author

Linda Rosenberg is the president and CEO of the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare. TNC is the unifying voice of America’s community-based <a href=”http://www.thenationalcouncil.org/cs/mission_and_vision”>mental health organizations</a> and behavioral health organizations, lobbying for mental and behavioral healthcare reform and integration. Lean more at www.thenationalcouncil.org.

Public Works And You

1838 PUBLIC WORKS OF GREAT BRITAIN 153 Plates RAILWAYS LOCOMOTIVES BRIDGES DOCKS $899.99

Moses, Robert PUBLIC WORKS A Dangerous Trade Signed 1st $750.00

Romania 1910 King Carol I Ministry of Public Works Palace Medal TOP Condition!! $499.99

RARE 3 pc Joal PROMO PUBLIC WORKS Set #2 MIB Cat 825-B Loader 920 Scraper 631D $324.99

AUTHENTIC GAR HIGHWAY METAL SIGN MASS. DEPT. OF PUBLIC WORKS $299.99

Internal Improvement: National Public Works and the Promise of Popular… $294.00

Romania – 1912 Braila Water Public Works Ship Medal R! $249.99

Lego 6383 VTG Classic Public Works Center, Complete, Ships Worldwide – Legoland $229.99

Transport & Public Works in Slovakia Illus 1941 Nazi Era Book in Slovak & German $195.00

Public Schools That Work: Creating Community NEW $189.50

The Collected Works Public Institutions v. 5 Book | C Rumford HB NEW 0674139550 $168.03

Globalisation and New International Public Works Agreem $173.51

Public Works and Poverty Alleviation in Rural China NEW $160.05

Radiation Science for Physicians and Public Health Work $163.56

Public Works and Poverty Alleviation in Rural China NEW $162.25

The Work of Psychoanalysts in the Public Health Sector $150.24

Public Works Poverty Alleviation in Rural China Book NEW 1560723955 GDN $141.55

NEW Public Schools That Work: Creating Community – S… $153.23

Making Public Enterprises Work: From Despair to Promise $144.06

NEW Globalization and New International Public Works Ag $139.30

How Public Organizations Work NEW by Christopher Bellav $132.88

Making Public Transport Work NEW by P.M. Bunting $123.78

California Highways and Public Works Volume 17 No. 1 January 1939 (first ed) $125.00

NEW Work/Family Conflicts: Private Lives-Public Respons $128.98

Work/Family Conflicts: Private Lives-Public Responses (Two liturgi.. – Hardcover $119.94

BNI Public Works Costbook 2012 $114.94

Mack c 1931-1932 Public Works & Utility Trucks Brochure $112.99

Innovations in Human Resource Management: Getting the Public’s Work Done in… $117.10

The State at Work: Public Sector Employment in Ten West $107.17

The State at Work: Public Sector Employment in Ten Western Countries, , Very Goo $111.16

Art nouveau Napolione agriculture & public works 1858 medal by CAQUE $99.00

NEW How Public Organizations Work: Learning from Experi $106.40

AUTHENTIC PUBLIC PAY TELEPHONE (PAYPHONE WORKS GREAT!) $50.00

Public Health: What it is and How it Works (2nd Rev… $92.51

Modernising Work in Public Services: Redefining Roles and Relationships in… $94.40

Russia Russian USSR People Public Control Active Work Badge Medal Award 1970-s $89.00

USSR badge PUBLIC CONTROL AUTHORITIES ACTIVE WORK 1970s $89.99

Public Works and Poverty Alleviation in Rural China, Zhu Ling, Jiang Zhongyi, Ve $95.19

VR / DEPT. of PUBLIC WORKS Mack Dumptruck – First Gear $79.95

1947 California Highways Public Works Vol 26 July – Aug $85.00

1947 California Highways Public Works Vol 26 Sept – Oct $85.00

Public Works Inspectors Manual, Seventh Edition The PW Inspector’s Manual is th $85.99

Criminology Public Policy Putting Theory to Work Book | Hugh D. Barlow HB NEW $78.92

Public Works City Water Supply Lighted MTH Building NEW $69.99

Criminology and Public Policy: Putting Theory to Work N $82.40

MTH Railking Public Works Building Gray & White 30-90007 O Scale $69.00

How Computers Changed the Work of American Public Secto $79.24

Work-Life Balance and Well-Being in Public Practice Acc $78.89

24 METRO-DADE Public Works Solid Waste Disposal Patch $78.00

Public Buildings Architecture under Public Works 1939 $69.99

MTH Rail King O-scale Public Works Building $59.99

Public Health: What It Is and How It Works by Bernar… $70.95

Painless Public Speaking: A Work Text Approach $72.41

Staffing for Results: A Guide to Working Smarter by Public Library… $72.33

Urban Schools, Public Will: Making Education Work for A $71.34

JOAL Public Works Set Ref.381 CAT Truck & CAT Pipelayer $59.99

PUBLIC PAYPHONE ULTRATEC TTY ( WORKS AND LOOKEN GREAT!!!!!!) $50.00

Serge Spitzer The Public Works $65.00

SIGNIFICANT SITES History and Public Works in NSW $29.57

Work and Job Satisfaction in the Public Sector Anne H. $67.46

ZeroWater ZD-023 23-Cup Water Dispenser and Filtration System $49.99 ZeroWater is the only filtered water from a pitcher that meets the FDA definition for purified bottled water. The Pitcher comes with the following products: One ZeroWater filter cartridge that removes contaminants that cause water to have an unpleasant taste. An independently made TDS Meter to give you peace of mind that your ZeroWater filter cartridges are working properly. It also lets you know…

AUDITING LIVE THE DREAM Mug Coffee Cup 11 oz This is a high quality 11 oz ceramic mug that is great as a gift for any occasion or just as a treat for yourself! The design is on both sides of the mug! The image on the mug is adhered through a heat sublimation process making it durable and long lasting. Dishwasher & Microwave Safe…

Building underground railway near Kings Cross, London Photo Mugs Construction work in progress on the worlds first underground railway near Kings Cross, Central London…..

Archangel $7.99 …

Jersey Girl $3.54 Jettisoning his trademark slacker slapstick, filmmaker Kevin Smith offers a heartfelt comedy/drama in which a career-driven New York music publicist’s (Ben Affleck) life implodes when his wife (yes, played by Jennifer Lopez) dies in childbirth. Seven years later, Affleck is working a blue-collar job in New Jersey and trying to raise his daughter (Raquel Castro) with help from his father (George Ca…

Fear of a Black Planet $3.34 PE’s third album is dense, heavy, and urgent as a bullet. Fear of a Black Planet single-handedly added half a dozen phrases to the language, and not just from Chuck D.’s troop-rallying bellow–Flavor Flav’s “911 Is a Joke” is as catchy an indictment of urban policy as anyone has ever come up with. The Bomb Squad’s music is complicated, challenging, terse, and totally funky, and Chuck matches it wi…

PBS American Visions The History of American Art and Architecture [VHS] $144.50 “What can we say about Americans from the things they’ve made? When we look at them through the lens of their art, what do we see?,” host and acclaimed TIME magazine art critic Robert Hughes asks. This extraordinary series presents a panoramic view of American history as reflected by artists in every medium and genre, from “primitive” portraits of the Colonial era to the complex visions of the pre…

A Little Princess (Wonderworks Family Movie) $10.00 A Little Princess (Wonderworks Family Movie)…

Public Works and Social Protection in Southern Africa (Paperback) $29.65 Public Works Programs (PWPs) are widely implemented throughout Asia, Latin America, and Africa, often with funding from major international donor agencies. They are perceived to present a “win-win” policy option, providing employment to the chronica…

Making Public Works Work (Paperback) $26.73 Description not available.

Globalization and New International Public Works Agreements in Developing Countries (Hardcover) $131.57 Description not available.

Sewer, Gas & Electric (Paperback) $11.57 Description not available.

Colossus (Paperback) $13.13 The definitive account of the epic construction of the Hoover Dam, one of the the twentieth century`s most consequential public works.

Colossus (Hardcover) $18.17 The definitive account of the epic construction of the Hoover Dam, one of the the twentieth century`s most consequential public works.

Transmission Arts Artists and Airwaves (Paperback) $15.4 Features 150 artists notable for their sonic, visual, and live works spanning early radio experiments of the 1880s up to the present. The volume is organized in sections dealing with performance, composition, installation, broadcast, public works, and …

Hb of Muni Bonds (Hardcover) $41.27 The definitive new edition of the most trusted book on municipal bondsAs of the end of 1998, municipal bonds, issued by state or local governments to finance public works programs, such as the building of schools, streets, and electrical grid…

Urban Composition (Paperback) $15.98 Cities and towns are among humanity`s largest and most complex achievements. The buildings, public works, plazas and parks of even a small town embody substantial amounts of capital, energy, natural resources, history, and aspirations. Cities are among…

Killer on the Road (Hardcover) $18.07 Starting in the 1950s, Americans eagerly built the planet`s largest public work: the 42,795-mile National System of Interstate and Defense Highways. Before the concrete was dry on the new roads, however, a specter began haunting them–the highway kille…