{"id":11977,"date":"2018-03-06T20:59:12","date_gmt":"2018-03-07T01:59:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mentalhe180dev.wpenginepowered.com\/news\/bethedifference-national-criminal-justice-month\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T08:24:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T13:24:13","slug":"bethedifference-national-criminal-justice-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/news\/bethedifference-national-criminal-justice-month\/","title":{"rendered":"#BeTheDifference During National Criminal Justice Month"},"content":{"rendered":"

March is National Criminal Justice Month.<\/strong> When we think about mental health and the criminal justice system, we may conjure up images of prisons overflowing with people\u00a0in need of mental health or addiction care, or negative \u2013 even fatal \u2013 interactions between police and people experiencing mental illness.<\/p>\n

But thanks to increased awareness, advocacy and the hard work of organizations across the country, many law enforcement agencies are starting to get it right when it comes to policing and mental health.<\/p>\n

This month, we\u2019re focusing on progress<\/em><\/strong> around mental health in the criminal justice system by highlighting departments and agencies across the country that are using innovative strategies \u2013 like Mental Health First Aid training \u2013 to improve the way they interact with people facing mental illness or addiction.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how you can get involved and #BeTheDifference this month:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Join a conversation. <\/a><\/strong>Chat with us on Thursday, March 29, from 2-3 p.m. ET during our Twitter chat<\/a> on mental health and law enforcement.<\/li>\n
  2. Read up.<\/a><\/strong> We\u2019ll be sharing stories about mental health in the criminal justice system on the blog<\/a> all month long, like this story<\/a> (originally published on The Hill<\/a>) about Massachusetts\u2019 commitment to training their sworn officers in Mental Health First Aid. Be sure to share with your networks!<\/li>\n
  3. Share information.<\/strong> Let your friends and colleagues know about the progress being made with Mental Health First Aid for Public Safety by sharing this short infographic<\/a> and video<\/a> on your social media channels.<\/li>\n
  4. Tell your story.<\/a><\/strong> Have you seen Mental Health First Aid make an impact in the law enforcement community? We want to hear it! Email Erica Hoffman at EricaH@TheNationalCouncil.org<\/a> for a chance to be featured on the blog.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    As always, thank you for continuing making a difference in your communities.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    March is National Criminal Justice Month. When we think about mental health and the criminal justice system, we may conjure up images of prisons overflowing with people\u00a0in need of mental … Read more<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":11831,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[188],"topic":[181,175],"news-type":[172],"class_list":["post-11977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-public-safety","topic-mhfa-training","topic-organizations","news-type-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n#BeTheDifference During National Criminal Justice Month<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"March is National Criminal Justice Month. 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