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HHS staff outline cross‑system plan to reduce justice involvement among people with behavioral health needs
Summary
Deputy Director Sharla Lopez and Phil Golley presented a Sequential Intercept Model and described grant-funded and proposed efforts — co-responders, jail-based assessments, peer support, recovery housing, a court navigator and a TAP grant — aimed at diverting people from jail and improving reentry outcomes.
Deputy Director Sharla Lopez and Phil Golley of Justice Support Services presented to the St. Croix County Health and Human Services Board on May 13 about efforts to address behavioral health needs across the criminal justice system. They described a Sequential Intercept Model (SIM) that maps six intercepts — from community response (intercept 0) through post-conviction reentry (intercept 5) — and said the county is pursuing a mix of grant-funded programming and internal coordination to intervene early.
Lopez described specific programs already in place and those they are pursuing: an embedded substance-use professional in children’s services, a family treatment court, peer support funded by a state opioid response grant, recovery housing, a jail social worker, and a state crisis intervention grant that funds a jail therapist. She said the county recently received $100,000 for a gun-violence and suicide-prevention initiative supporting harm reduction and safe gun storage. "We have a substance or a suicide prevention gun violence prevention initiative that we just actually got the money, a $100,000," Lopez said.
Golley emphasized programming calibrated to risk, need and responsivity, and the importance of combining clinical services with cognitive/criminogenic programming. He noted the county has training (CIT) for officers and two behavioral health corresponders now, with plans for more staffing in 2027. He also described a court navigator position funded in the 2026 budget that would operate at intercept 3 (courts) and said TAP (treatment alternative program) grant opportunities could support evidence-based programming for justice-involved individuals.
Board members questioned points of entry, funding sources, and program readiness. Lopez and Golley said services can be accessed via jail, court, or referral; clinical services can bill MA or private insurance when appropriate, grants may cover other services, and some interventions are provided at no cost to participants. The presenters emphasized that interventions take time to show system-level effects but could reduce arrests, recidivism and pressure on the jail over time.
