The Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, in partnership with investigators from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, the Veterans Administration, and numerous state agencies, have developed MISSION DIRECT VET, a court-based jail diversion program with a priority population of veterans. Goals of this SAMHSA-funded program include identifying criminal defendants who are veterans with mental illness and substance use disorders prior to sentencing, proposing service and treatment option as alternatives to incarceration, and facilitating service coordination between treatment providers and the criminal justice system. This Issue Brief describes this initiative.

At a time when the general standard of child welfare and mental health provision has been improving, some important groups in Massachusetts remain under-served. One such is children suffering from trauma. Despite various state-wide efforts to educate professionals about the evidence-based treatments available, trauma sufferers have typically faced long waits to receive these treatments, with average waiting times at some larger mental health agencies stretching to four or even six months. In this brief, we are presenting the implementation of a highly innovative Centralized Referral System – LINK-KID – developed at the Child Trauma Training Center (CTTC) at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. LINK-KID referral system connects children in need of evidence-based trauma treatment with mental health providers who have been trained in these treatments.