Community-Informed Justice Diversion and Care

Brought to you by NAMI:

Tuesday, April 14, 2026 | 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. ET

The Sequential Intercept Model (SIM) is a key tool to help communities identify strategies to implement policies and programs that divert people with mental illness from the criminal justice system. By detailing how people come into contact and move through the system, this model helps communities identify resources and service gaps that prevent them from reaching their diversion and treatment goals.

The SIM has changed how communities think and plan for mental health diversion and treatment, and in doing so has impacted countless lives. But despite progress, there are still barriers to making mental health services available to everyone. To address these concerns, Policy Research Associates Inc. (PRA) has developed a new application of the SIM to support more comprehensive and inclusive approaches to services and treatment.

This webinar will present a new approach to leverage in SIM to ensure communities are considering their members’ unique needs. Using the lens of “nothing about us, without us”, this session will explore ways to identify the unique needs of communities and avoid pitfalls that can be barriers to success.

Learning Objectives:
• Understanding of how the criminal justice system impacts people with mental illness based on their individual needs and experiences.
• Strategies to ensure reforms and strategic plans are addressing all unique needs within communities.
• Ways to enhance the use of SIM workshops to ensure strategic plans are leveraging resources in a way that reforms and services are structured to meet communities’ unique needs. 

Reserve your spot today and submit your questions for our presenter through the registration form! https://nami-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_GPUNuXlsQn-S7DDv_QSwuw#/registration

Speaker:
Dr. Melissa Neal Stein is Senior Project Associate II within the Criminal Legal Area at Policy Research Associates, Inc. She leads broad technical assistance projects focused on issues at the intersection of the behavioral health and criminal legal systems, including increasing public health approaches in criminal legal programs, addressing racial and ethnic inequities, and ensuring use of evidence-based practices. She directs communications for SAMHSA’s GAINS Center for Behavioral Health and Justice Transformation, which involves the production and dissemination of written materials and events to the national audience of behavioral health and criminal justice professionals. Dr. Stein also leads technical assistance and research related to providing substance use treatment in criminal legal settings, including medication-assisted treatment, specifically medication for opioid use disorders, in state department of corrections, rural jails, and treatment courts. She is a certified Sequential Intercept Model (SIM) mapping workshop facilitator and developer of the diversity, equity, and inclusion-focused SIM mapping workshop. Dr. Stein earned her Master’s and Doctorate in Public Health from East Tennessee State University. In 2007, she co-founded Families Free, Inc., a non-profit organization supporting families interfacing with the criminal legal system. Immediately prior to joining PRA, Dr. Stein was the Criminal Justice Planning Manager for Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, where she led research and planning for the local criminal justice system, oversaw local collaborating bodies, and directed grant programs. Her work has been published in various peer-reviewed journals, including Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, Journal for Advancing Justice, and the Journal of Public Child Welfare. Dr. Stein brings knowledge and passion from her own experience and recovery from complex trauma into her work. She resides outside Charlotte, NC, with her family.

“Therapeutic Court Association of Washington is sharing this event for informational purposes only and is not affiliated with, endorsing, or sponsoring the event.”