Policy and Practice February 2019

staff spotlight

Name: Raymond (Ray) Davidson Title: Chief Operating Officer Time at APHSA: One month

association runs smoothly while delivering on our members’ priorities. What I Can Do for Our Members: Our members will always benefit if our association is running at optimal levels and delivering on our value propositions. This includes focusing on customer service with each member interaction while creating space for innovative solutions that support the communities that are served. Best Way to Reach Me: You can reach me by email at rdavidson@aphsa.org or call (202) 682-0100, ext. 299. When Not Working: I enjoy spending time with my family, especially our three-year-old granddaughter. I also enjoy exercising, golf, and gardening. Motto to Live By: Colin Powell’s words, “Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.”

Life Before APHSA: Earlier inmy career I held leader- ship positions in operational and administrative functions with Bell Atlantic (nowVerizon) Communications, Home Shopping Network, and Comcast Corporation. Prior to joining APHSA, I held several positions in the District of Columbia’s Child Welfare Agency, including an appointment to Agency Director. Priorities at APHSA: Making sure that our associa- tion provides full optimization of talent and capacity to deliver on its vision and mission. This includes working with our team to attract and to retain the professional support we will leverage to deliver on our vision and mission. Also, I will be taking an operational lead in ensuring our

INTERCEPTS continued from page 6

issue. One example is the Criminal Justice Advisory Board’s workgroup, the Human Services Subcommittee, designed to enhance collaboration between the human services and criminal justice systems. The Human Services Subcommittee used the SIM to look specifically at how to reduce the jail population, focusing on indi- viduals with mental illness, substance abuse, and co-occurring disorders. While the jail resides in Intercept 3, the group acknowledged that jail over- crowding is not the result of just one intercept and that the intercepts are interdependent. The group looked at each intercept in the context of how that intercept, and its impact on other intercepts, could achieve the goal of reducing the jail population. 5 As a result, one of the top pri- orities was developing strategies and resources around Intercept 2, the Initial Detention stage when a person comes into contact with the court system. Quality community-based

services at Intercept 2 have important implications, not only in reducing jail costs but also in providing treatment when a person is better served in the community. Both systems identified the early intervention or interception of persons with behavioral health or co-occurring disorders as one of their goals to prevent further interaction with the criminal justice system. If more information were gathered at the time of initial detention and an alterna- tive placement considered, individuals could obtain the needed treatment and support sooner, resulting in a reduced influx of individuals into the criminal justice system. An opportu- nity presented itself: intervention and investment—financially and strategi- cally—at these early intercepts could result in downstream savings and better outcomes for individuals with behavioral health issues. Key stakeholders in Intercept 2 are the Magisterial District Judges (MDJs), Pennsylvania’s judges of first

disorders in the criminal justice system while preserving public safety and efficiently using resources. It helps develop partnerships between human services and criminal justice to assess the resources, gaps, and opportuni- ties at each intercept. The SIM is made up of six intercepts. 4 The points are Intercept 0 (emergency room, crisis, respite); Intercept 1 (law enforce- ment); Intercept 2 (initial detention and initial hearings); Intercept 3 (jail/ prison, courts, forensic evaluations, and forensic commitments); Intercept 4 (reentry from state prisons, county jails, and forensic hospitalization); and Intercept 5 (community corrections and community supports). The inter- cepts represent various points along the continuum where the systems can intervene to keep people out of the criminal justice system and place them into community-based treatment. A wide range of stakeholders has made significant efforts to under- stand and support this ever-growing

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