Begun in Boulder, Colorado.

Programme Highlights

• Efforts have been initiated to educate and change attitudes of: members of the criminal justice system, high school students and members of the media.
• Task force meetings, chaired by the chief judge of the district court, have been held with managers and leaders of all the local criminal justice agencies. The products of the task force are extensive, including:
• Launch of a new multi-agency community monitoring and treatment programme for mentally ill offenders with concomitant substance abuse problems, with the goal of diverting these mentally ill offenders from jail.
• Development and delivery of curriculum and training for police officers probation officers, corrections officers, attorneys and judges.
• A consumer speakers' bureau, composed of consumers, family members and mental health professionals, has been formed at the Mental Health Center of Boulder County. The speakers bureau is active in local schools and community groups.
• The Boulder Valley School district has approved the development of a new health curriculum for high school students that will emphasise lifestyle factors that affect health (under development by the Boulder County Health Department officials).
• An artwork competition was created in which high school students were encouraged to educate other teenagers about the issues of stigma and discrimination because of schizophrenia. Winning entries were used in posters created for city buses in Boulder County.
  

Programme Coordinator
Dr. Richard Warner
Mental Health Center of Boulder County
1333 Iris Avenue
Boulder, Colorado, 80304 USA
Phone: (303) 443-8500
Fax: (303) 449-6029
Email: [email protected]
______________