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Abstract: 

This article looks at the recently introduced Mental Health Justice Act (MHJA, also designated as HR 1368), which creates a grant program for local governments and states to train and dispatch mental health specialists to respond to an emergency call. The Act as written is powerfully affected by the “Harm Reduction” approach to substance abuse, which is premised on the belief that neither abstinence nor imprisonment is the answer to our significant drug problems. Harm Reduction stresses reductions in public abusers’ deaths, authorizes controlled access to drug paraphernalia, and even beds to sleep on. For the police, state and local governments would be authorized to develop mental health responder units. The MHJA would create a grant program to pay for hiring, staff development, salary, benefits, and additional expenses for mental health provider first responder units. Grant recipients will receive technical assistance from experts.

Keywords: Mental Health Justice Act (MHJA);HR 1368; Harm Reduction Approach

Affiliations:  1: Executive Editor.