The DMHAS Division of Forensic Services is established to implement and coordinate specially-skilled evaluation and treatment services for individuals with serious mental illness and/or substance use disorders who become involved in the criminal justice system, and to serve the courts and other components of the criminal justice system. Our efforts are intended to promote recovery and prevent or limit criminal justice system involvement to the extent possible, to promote public safety and to coordinate activities with other state and private agencies. Services within the Division span the continuum of the criminal justice system from pre-booking to end of sentence after incarceration and return to the community.

The five major components of the Division of Forensic Services provide clinical programming, specialized consultation and evaluation services, specific intervention programs to divert people from the criminal justice system and into treatment where possible, programs to help people re-enter community living successfully after a period of incarceration, and training and consultation to the criminal justice system. In all these efforts, one of our overarching goals is the decriminalization of mental illness. These components are as follows: 

• Whiting Forensic Hospital
• Forensic Psychiatry Services
• Office of Forensic Evaluations
• Community Forensic Services
  • Crisis Intervention Team (CIT)  Watch video!
  • Jail Diversion/Court Liaison Program
  • Women’s Jail Diversion (JDW)
  • Alternative Drug Intervention (ADI)
  • Office of Pretrial Interventions
  • Community Recovery Engagement Support and Treatment Center (CREST)
  • Advanced Supervision and Intervention Support Team (ASIST)
• Transitional Services
  • Criminal Justice Interagency Program
  • Connecticut Offender Re-entry Program (CORP)
  • Transitional Case Management  Watch video!
  • Conditional Release Service Unit (CRSU)