Item 398 J.1. of the 2016 Appropriations Act requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) to “solicit proposals from local or regional jails to establish pilot programs to provide services to mentally ill inmates, or to provide pre-incarceration crisis intervention services to prevent mentally ill offenders from entering jails. The Department shall evaluate the proposals in consultation with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and the Compensation Board, and shall report a list of up to six recommended pilot sites to the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security and the Chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees no later than September 15, 2016.”

In response to the Appropriations Act language, DCJS is soliciting concept paper proposals from local and regional jails “to establish pilot programs to provide services to mentally ill inmates, or to provide pre-incarceration services to prevent mentally ill offenders from entering jails.”

Sites will be selected through a two-phase process: a Concept Paper phase and an Invited Applicant phase. The process is described in detail in the solicitation.