Criminal Justice And Mental Illness: A Webinar On The State Of The Issue

Mar 7, 2024

People with mental illness are overrepresented in our nation’s jails and prisons. Nearly 80% of people released from prison in the U.S. each year have a chronic medical, substance use, or psychiatric condition, and the justice system faces difficulties creating meaningful connections to care.

During this webinar hear from a national expert on the intersection of health care and the criminal justice system. The webinar will explore the history of mental health care and how policy choices have led to the development of parallel health care systems, with negative outcomes for those who are justice involved.

We will also discuss opportunities in a historic moment and how we can work to implement best practices that promote integration between behavioral health care and corrections, and policy solutions that improve access to quality care for people who are incarcerated.

Our Expert

Dan Mistak, MA, MS, JD  
Acting President & Director of Health Care Initiatives for Justice-Involved Populations, Community Oriented Correctional HealthDan Mistak, MA, MS, JD, is the Acting President and Director of Health Care Initiatives for Justice-Involved Populations at Community Oriented Correctional Health Services. At COCHS, he has led efforts at the federal, state, and local level to improve connections between the health and justice systems.

He is a leader in the field in creatively leveraging opportunities to use the strengths of the health system to help people avoid incarceration. His previous experience has focused on legal issues for underprivileged populations including representation of clients in asylum hearings, legal research surrounding the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and campaign finance.

He previously worked at Legal Aid Society of Hawai‘i where he provided support to map Hawai‘i County’s behavioral health safety net and its interface with the criminal justice system. While there, he was a trial attorney and worked with justice-involved individuals regarding the collateral consequences of their justice involvement. He also served on the board of NAMI Hawaiʻi.

He holds Master’s degrees in Genetics/Cell Biology and Philosophy from Washington State University and Bachelor’s degrees in Biology and Chemistry. Prior to joining COCHS, Mr. Mistak was a Senior Editor of the California Law Review at UC Berkeley, School of Law. He is admitted to practice law in California and Hawai‘i.