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BELLEFONTE -- In April, the Centre County Board of Commissioners recognized the county's Criminal Justice Advisory Board (CJAB) for an honor received at an annual state-wide conference earlier this month.
Since 1999, Centre County has been served by the CJAB. For the past 25 years, the CJAB has been making recommendations to elected officials, court officials and criminal justice agencies in Centre County.
In early-April, the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency held their annual conference in State College, during which they gave out their Best Practices Award. Of the 67 advisories boards in contention for the award, Centre County CJAB stood out for their efforts with the following endeavors:
-- Stepping Up Initiatives – A national initiative to reduce the number of people with mental illnesses in jails/prisons;
-- Behavioral Health Court – A collaboration of criminal justice and mental health systems aimed at providing structured mental health treatment and supervision to criminal offenders with serious mental illness diagnoses;
-- Centre County Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) - Biannual trainings offered to first responders, such as law enforcement officers, mental health professionals and emergency medical staff among others;
-- Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative - Collaborations with community agencies to alleviate the effects of substance use, the opiate epidemic and overdoses;
-- Reentry Coalition - A taskforce with the goal of reducing recidivism and enhancing the successful return of people into the community.
To further celebrate the honor, the Board of Commissioners recognized members of the Centre County CJAB, being joined by Honorable Brian Marshall, Judge in the Court of Common Pleas, and Karri Hull, Criminal Justice Planning Director. During the Commissioners meeting, Marshall and Hull had the opportunity to speak on behalf of the CJAB and the commissioners praised the CJAB for their contributions to the County. Commissioner Amber Concepcion remarked, "Congratulations for all your good work! I think we've got such a dedicated staff... doing the strategic planning and bringing all of these pieces together. We're proud of the work you all are doing!"