Under a new grant from the Nellie Ball Trust Research Fund, the Law, Health Policy & Disability Center (LHPDC) will work with a local agency to illustrate the challenges facing individuals with mental health disorders.

People with serious mental illness (SMI) are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system, often because there is nowhere else to place people who may be a danger to themselves or others, says Angie Pretz, PhD, MSW, a research scientist who received the $31,000 one-year grant from the Nellie Ball Trust Research Fund. Pretz’s grant submission is titled “Criminalizing Mental Health: The intersection of Serious Mental Illness and the Criminal Legal System.” 

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