With support from the State Justice Institute, the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute is partnering with Fort Bend County and Brazoria County in Texas to advance The First 48 Initiative: Developing a Blueprint for Person-Centered and Care-Focused Adjudication.
This initiative focuses on connecting people to community-based care early, thereby reducing unnecessary incarceration for people with behavioral health (BH) needs. First 48 centers on the critical window of the first 48 hours after arrest, when decisions about detention are made and when people can be linked to care in lieu of incarceration.
Centered on this critical window and grounded in the research on the harmful impact of incarceration for people BH needs, First 48 focuses on building diversion options that return people with BH needs to the community and connects them to services post-arrest. In Fort Bend and Brazoria counties, local leaders, courts, hospitals, BH providers, and other stakeholders are collaborating to offer post-arrest diversion pathways by centering person-centered, care-focused adjudication. To support this system redesign, both counties are establishing Criminal Justice Coordinating Councils, which provide structure for data-informed planning, cross-system collaboration, and developing shared goals.
In Fort Bend County, the initiative emphasizes early identification of BH needs, legal advocacy at initial court appearances, and increased releases from jail. Brazoria County is focused on developing a crisis services facility and expanding post-arrest diversion options.
This work gives both counties a clearer path for increasing jail releases while connecting people to community-based care and offers a model for other communities.
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