New River Valley Bridge Program
What is The Bridge Program?
The Bridge Program is a post-booking, pre-trial jail diversion program serving persons with serious mental illness or co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders. It seeks to divert eligible, willing participants from the criminal justice system and into community-based treatment and services. The Bridge Program is funded by a federal grant from the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
The Goals of the Bridge Program
Working together, community stakeholders literally "put the pieces in place" to create The Bridge Program.
The goals of the Bridge Program are:
Build an infrastructure linking courts, services and treatment that moves people from the criminal justice system and into treatment
Replicate and utilize evidence based practices to create effective, recovery-focused treatment and services
Identify eligible individuals at the earliest possible time after their arrest and, with their consent and a judge's approval, enroll them in the Bridge Program
Develop and maintain innovative multi-jurisdictional, cross-agency systems partnerships to enhance successful community treatment
Generate statistical data to demonstrate the link between effective community treatment and reduced recidivism and community cost
Enhance interoperability between the Criminal Justice and Mental Health Systems, paying keen attention to public safety and the individual needs of the population to be served
Process
Initial Screening
Provided within hours of an individual's arrest using established criteria and screening instruments to determine eligibility for the Program; primarily the presence of serious mental illness or co-occurring disorders.
The screening is done by booking officers at the Montgomery County Jail and by New River Community Corrections and Pre-trial Services in the New River Valley Regional Jail.
Court Approval
At the initial court appearance, usually within 24 hours of arrest, a judge will determine whether willing participants will be given the option of entering into the Bridge Program.
Depending on the severity of their criminal justice circumstances, potential Bridge clients will next receive a full clinical evaluation either while incarcerated or in the community.
Working with members of the Bridge Team staff, clients will create and participate in an Individualized Treatment Plan and be released to the Program and Court supervision through New River Community Corrections and Pre-trial Services.
Treatment
Treatment is provided by or coordinated through the Bridge Treatment Team in partnership with New River Valley Community Services. The team includes:
Clinician
Case Manager
Peer Ombudsman/Peer Specialists
Nurse Practitioner
Psychiatrist
All clients will be required to participate in the Program's signature six-part education and recovery group series.
A "Seeking Safety" group is also available for clients dealing with the effects of trauma and substance abuse.
Court Oversight
A Criminal Justice Liaison will:
Assist Bridge clients with coordination of court appearances and related appointments
Make regular updates to the Courts regarding client participation
Administration
The Bridge Administrative Team, made up of the Program Director, Administrator, Coordinator, and Evaluator/Research Assistant work together to ensure the Program achieves its objectives.
Evaluation
Data will be collected at various stages of the client's participation using tools already in use by other grant recipients and will be augmented with two instruments which were specifically designed to assess change in program evaluation studies.
Clients have the right to decline participation in the evaluation process, but still receive treatment and services in the Bridge Program. Clients who choose to be involved in the evaluation efforts are protected by an Institutional Review Board (IRB).
Community Partners Include:
New River Valley Community Services
New River Community Corrections and Pretrial Services
Department of Social Services
New River Community Action
Department of Rehabilitative Services
The Free Clinic of the New River Valley
Recovery Community of the New River Valley
Community Housing Partners Corporation
Contacts
For more information about the Bridge Program, contact:
Victoria Cochran, Program Administrator
540.392.4101
vcochran2@radford.eduHeather Custer, Bridge Team Clinician
540.961.8380
hcuster@nrvcs.orgJoseph Yost, Jail Diversion Coordinator
540.951.4990
jyost@mhanrv.org
