About today’s webinar:

1. P-HSJCC Webinar Series:Race and Mental Health Court Diversion May 15, 2019 About today’s webinar: • We will have a Q&A period at the end of our webinar. To ask a question, please type your question in the chat box. • This webinar will be recorded. The recording and power-point presentation will be emailed to you following the webinar. • Please complete the brief evaluation survey following the webinar. About the HSJCC Network: • The Human Services and Justice Coordinating Committee (HSJCC) Network is comprised of:39 Local Committees, 14 Regional Committees, and one Provincial HSJCC • Each HSJCC is a voluntary collaboration between health and social service organizations, community mental health and addictions organizations and partners from the justice sector including crown attorneys, judges, police services and correctional service providers.

2. Communityof Interest for Racialized Populations and Mental Health &Addictions invitesyouto athinktankexploring: Racialized Populations and Mental Health & Addictions Community of Interest (CoI) Race and Mental Health Court Diversion Provincial HSJCC Webinar May 15, 2019 Presented by: Candace Vena, CMHA Ontario Christine Conrad, CMHA Ontario Deqa Farah, Fred Victor Angela Yip, CAMH

3. Overview of today’s presentation • Overview of the Racialized Populations and Mental Health and Addictions Community of Interest (CoI) • Racialized Populations and Mental Health Court Diversion project background • Project findings: • Literature search findings • Focus group findings • Think tank findings • CMHA conference • Discussion: • Do these findings resonate with you? • Do you have anything to add to our findings? • How can you use these findings in practice? • Who can we share this with to continue momentum? Outline/CoI Background/Project Background/Findings/Discussion/Next Steps

4. Communityof Interest for RacializedPopulations and Mental Health &Addictions invitesyouto athinktankexploring: Overview of the Racialized Populations Mental Health and Addictions Community of Interest Outline/CoI Background/Project Background/Findings/Discussion/Next Steps

5. CoI’s Overall Goals Outline/CoI Background/Project Background/Findings/Discussion/Next Steps

6. CoI Partners Outline/CoI Background/Project Background/Findings/Discussion/Next Steps

7. Evidence Exchange Network Province-wide knowledge exchange network, supported by knowledge brokers. Connects stakeholders with each other and with the evidence they need to make decisions. EENet.ca Located in CAMH’s Provincial System Support Program. Outline/CoI Background/Project Background/Findings/Discussion/Next Steps

8. PSSP provides capacity and expertise in: • Knowledge exchange • Implementation • Coaching • Equity and engagement • Evaluation and data management PSSP’s provincial office is in Toronto with nine regional offices located throughout Ontario. Outline/CoI Background/Project Background/Findings/Discussion/Next Steps

9. Background • COI’s goal is to improve policy, planning and practice for racialized populations in mental health & addiction. • Previous work: • Explored how racialized individuals and communities in Ontario accessed hospital emergency departments for mental health and addictions related reasons • 2-year work project looking into exploring OCAN use to advance health equity. • Held series of webinars to share knowledge & promising practices. Outline/CoI Background/Project Background/Findings/Discussion/Next Steps

10. Racialized Populations and Mental Health Court Diversion Project Overview #mhjusticeandrace Outline/CoI Background/Project Background/Findings/Discussion/Next Steps

11. Background • In 2017,the COI started its new project to focus on criminal court diversion programs and practices to examine racialized populations’ experience within the mental health court services. • This involved focusing on formal mental health diversion programs as well as informal diversion practices for racialized persons with mental health and addictions issues in the criminal justice system. #mhjusticeandrace Outline/CoI Background/Project Background/Findings/Discussion/Next Steps

12. Project Objectives • Increase understanding of how diversion is generally applied, specifically to racialized populations. • Raise awareness about the need for standardization of race-based data collection throughout the criminal justice system, in order for issues of equity to be properly addressed through evidence-based policies and practices.  • Contribute to existing strategies to improve the overall wellbeing of racialized populations moving through the criminal justice system. • Examineperceptions of race in the justice system and how those perceptions impact the outcomes, as well as what is needed to effectively address systemic racial inequities. Outline/CoI Background/Project Background/Findings/Discussion/Next Steps

13. Overview of Activities • Information/Literature scan • Focus groups held in Toronto: • Mental Health Case Managers • Mental Health Court Workers • PWLE – Mental Health Court Diversion • PWLE – Non Court Diversion • Backgrounder report – released December 2018 • Think tank – took place January 7, 2019 • Presented at CMHA Conference – April 2019 #mhjusticeandrace Outline/CoI Background/Project Background/Findings/Discussion/Next Steps

14. Project Findings #mhjusticeandrace Outline/CoI Background/Project Background/Findings/Discussion/Next Steps

15. What does the Literature say? • In the United States, there is an overrepresentation of Caucasian males in mental health courts. • Racialized immigrant populations and Indigenous populations have a higher prevalence of mental distress and/or risk of suicide than the average Canadian • Statistics show that there is an over-representation of racialized populations, particularly Indigenous and Black populations, in frequency of arrests and incarcerations in Canada • There is a pressing need for further research on the treatment of racialized populations in the Canadian criminal justice system. #mhjusticeandrace Outline/CoI Background/Project Background/Findings/Discussion/Next Steps

16. Focus Group Results • Purpose of focus groups was exploratory • Shed light on the experiences and needs of racialized individuals interacting with mental health court support services and diversion in Toronto • Targeted focus group participants included: • Service providers: mental health case managers & mental health court workers • Service users: PWLE who received mental health court diversion and PWLE who did receive formal diversion • 20 participants shared their experiences and perspectives; 3 through individual interviews and 17 through focus groups #mhjusticeandrace Outline/CoI Background/Project Background/Findings/Discussion/Next Steps

17. Highlighted Themes • Most service users reported a lack of awareness and transparency around diversion and mental health court support services • Both service users and service providers felt that race affects how an individual is treated in the criminal justice system • Some service users expressed distrust and a loss of hope in the justice system • Other factors including class, immigration and citizenship were identified as intersecting issues that affected how racialized populations were treated in the criminal justice system #mhjusticeandrace Outline/CoI Background/Project Background/Findings/Discussion/Next Steps

18. Results from the Think Tank Day #mhjusticeandrace Outline/CoI Background/Project Background/Findings/Discussion/Next Steps

19. Overview of Think Tank Day • Brought together over 100 participants in person and 50 more via webinar • Representatives from the Ministries of Health and Long-Term Care, the Solicitor General, and the Attorney General; duty counsel; police and probation officers; court support workers and managers; mental health and addiction services providers; and persons with lived experience • Keynote speakers including Dr. Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, University of Toronto and Anthony Morgan, City of Toronto’s Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit • Panel made up of lawyers, mental health court workers and a person with lived experience who shared personal experiences and observations of racism in the justice system • Discussion on how to improve experiences and outcomes for racialized persons in the justice system #mhjusticeandrace Outline/CoI Background/Project Background/Findings/Discussion/Next Steps

20. Discussion Questions for Think Tank Participants What supports, services or resources are needed before charges are laid to prevent racialized individuals with mental health or addictions-related issues from interacting with the justice system? How can racialized individuals going through the justice system be made more aware of the process and what’s happening?  Who should be promoting/recommending mental health court diversion? How can mental health court diversion be more accessible for racialized individuals and how can those who are not eligible receive the supports they need? Where in the criminal justice system pathway should race-based data be collected? #mhjusticeandrace Outline/CoI Background/Project Background/Findings/Discussion/Next Steps

21. Key Recommendations Race-based data should be collected throughout the criminal justice system to better facilitate access to mental health court diversion for racialized individuals. Increase the number of culturally competent and trauma-informed services within the justice system, including specialized training for police officers. Every member of the justice system, including judges, police officers, and mental health court support workers should be responsible for promoting mental health court diversion. Culturally-specific system navigators are needed to share information and resources with justice-involved individuals. Mental health court locations and hours of operation should be expanded across the province. #mhjusticeandrace Outline/CoI Background/Project Background/Findings/Discussion/Next Steps

22. CMHA Conference • The COI was selected to present “Racialized Populations and Mental Health Court Diversion” at the 2019 CMHA Ontario Conference on April 1, 2019 • Approximately 30 participants attended and built on the discussions from the think tank day • Solutions for promoting mental health court diversion to racialized clients were discussed: • Mobile crisis team workers can share mental health court information directly with clients • Decreasing stigma will encourage more clients to their mental health or substance use condition Outline/CoI Background/Project Background/Findings/Discussion/Next Steps

23. Final Report • To be released in the near future • Webinar participants will be notified by email when the report is available • The report will be available online at: • http://eenet.ca/the-racialized-populations-and-mental-health-and-addictions-community-of-interest Outline/CoI Background/Project Background/Findings/Discussion/Next Steps

24. Communityof Interest for RacializedPopulations and Mental Health &Addictions invitesyouto athinktankexploring: Discussion #mhjusticeandrace Outline/CoI Background/Project Background/Findings/Discussion/Next Steps

25. Questions for Participants • Do these findings resonate with you? • Do you have anything to add to our findings? • How can you use these findings in practice? • Who can we share this with to continue momentum? #mhjusticeandrace Outline/CoI Background/Project Background/Findings/Discussion/Next Steps

26. Thanks for attending! For more information, visit: http://www.eenet.ca/node/1263#about #mhjusticeandrace Outline/CoI Background/Project Background/Findings/Discussion/Next Steps