In Support of the 2023-2025 Strategic Plan of the CCJ/COSCA Behavioral Health Committee
Resolution 2: In Support of the 2023-2025 Strategic Plan of the CCJ/COSCA Behavioral Health Committee
WHEREAS, in 2020, the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) restructured and renamed the CCJ/COSCA ProblemSolving Courts Committee as the Behavioral Health Committee, with a mission to "identify, evaluate, and develop recommendations for the Conferences on policy responses for courts that integrate principles, best practices, and strategies . . . regarding the behavioral health needs . . . of persons subject to court jurisdiction;" and
WHEREAS, in 2017, the Conferences created the National Judicial Opioid Task Force to develop tools, resources and policy recommendations to assist courts in responding to the opioid epidemic; and
WHEREAS, in 2019, the Conferences adopted a wide-ranging set of best practice and policy recommendations to guide state and local courts in their development, operation, and assessment of judicial responses to the opioid epidemic; and
WHEREAS, in 2020, the National Judicial Task Force to Examine State Courts' Responses to Mental Illness was created to "assist state courts in their efforts to more effectively respond to the needs of court-involved individuals with serious mental illness;" and
WHEREAS, in 2022, the Conferences adopted the recommendations of the National Judicial Task Force to Examine State Courts' Responses to Mental Illness and resolved, ". . . with the leadership of the CCJ/COSCA Behavioral Health Committee . . . to implement the recommendations of the Task Force . . ."; and
WHEREAS, a tremendous amount of work and effort was dedicated to the study of the opioid epidemic and the needs of individuals with substance use disorder, serious mental illness and the development of best practices, tools and resources for courts, but much work remains to be done to fully implement the recommendations of the two Task Forces;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Conferences support and adopt the 2023-2025 Strategic Plan proposed by the Behavioral Health Committee with the support of the National Center for State Courts to assist the Conferences and local courts to "implement the recommendations of the Task Forces and respond to the highly dynamic environment of behavioral health;" and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Co-Chairs of the Behavioral Health Committee are authorized to create one or more working groups composed of judges, court administrators, behavioral health professionals, and other multidisciplinary subject matter experts to assist in implementing the recommendations of the Task Forces, with each working group to be chaired by one or more members of the Committee.
Adopted as proposed by the CCJ/COSCA Behavioral Health Committee at the CCJ/COSCA Annual Meeting on August 2, 2023.