The Minister of Health, Jesús Fernández Sanz, and the president of the Superior Court of Justice of Castile-La Mancha, María Pilar Astray Chacón, signed a general protocol of collaboration to establish the appropriate coordination and action mechanisms for the care of people with … current mental illness or risk of criminalization.
The objective is to formalize the collaboration between the Ministry of Health of the Community Council of Castile-La Mancha and the Superior Court of Justice of Castile-La Mancha to establish sufficient and appropriate action mechanisms for the care of people with mental illness who have been in contact with the judicial and/or penal system for having committed a crime or who are at risk of committing it.
Coordination between the two institutions has been carried out since 2013 through the Case Analysis Commissions, these being stable coordination structures which integrate professionals and civil servants from the judicial field, social and health administration, penitentiary institutions and patient associations.
These commissions work by analyzing specific cases and situations, sharing information, researching intervention strategies, monitoring and resolving cases if possible, as well as detecting network deficiencies.
Another objective pursued is to facilitate communication between the two administrations, through the exchange of information and their respective resources, for better use of these, in favor of people suffering from mental illness and/or intellectual disability and/or addictions.
Likewise, the objective is to carry out coordinated work that improves the opportunities for social integration of people who, due to a mental disorder, intellectual disability or addiction, are prosecuted.
Likewise, the objective is to support the prevention strategies that the CACS can implement to minimize, through early detection and the good adaptation of treatment programs or care resources, the risk of the person with mental health problems being brought to justice.
This also involves the development of joint action protocols, among which, for its importance, stands out the one aimed at improving the social integration of people with mental illness who finish serving their sentence and promoting the follow-up of the person in the community environment.
And to conclude, another objective is to disseminate the existence of the Commissions among the professionals of the Administrations who intervene, in order to increase the number of cases evaluated, so that, by sharing the most complex cases, general action protocols can be developed for typical cases and that the instruments and tools are available to make the overall care effective.
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