This is a brief resource list on U.S. prisons, criminal justice, and restorative justice issues and public policy.

Pennsylvania County Prison Boards

Pennsylvania Title 61 Pa. C.S.A. Subchapter B - COUNTY JAIL OVERSIGHT BOARDS
(second class counties; optional for other counties)
Pennsylvania Title 61 Pa. C.S.A. Subchapter C - BOARD OF INSPECTORS
(third, fourth, and fifth class counties; optional for sixth, seventh, eighth class counties)

Allegheny County (Second Class)
- Jail Oversight Board - monthly public meetings (usually 1st Thurs., 4pm) in person & on-line; agenda and video recordings are posted
- Jail Population Data - Interactive Dashboard
- Criminal Justice Advisory Board - CJAB is closed to the public
Berks County (Third Class)
- Berks Connections/Pretrial Services - provides Reentry Services, Pretrial Services, R3: pre-apprenticeship program in the construction trades
- Prison Board - monthly public meetings (usually 2nd Wed, 9am) in person & on-line; agenda and minutes are posted
- Criminal Justice Advisory Board - CJAB is closed to the public, but website includes related resources, such as 2016-2019 strategic plan
Bucks County (Second Class A)
- Prison Oversight Board - Board members - monthly public meetings (2nd Wed, 1:30pm) in person & Zoom; agenda and director reports posted

Carbon County (Sixth Class)
- Prison Board - monthly public meetings (3rd Wednesday) in person & video; agenda & minutes posted
- Criminal Justice Advisory Board - no public information

Chester County (Third Class)
- Prison Board - monthly (last Wednesday; typically ~ 2pm) public meetings - in-person & Zoom; video, meeting minutes & reports posted here.

Dauphin County (Third Class)
- Board of Prison Inspectors - monthly public meetings, in person and online; meeting minutes and reports are posted.
- Criminal Justice Advisory Board - closed to the public
  - Recorded Webinar (9/17/2020)

Lancaster County (Third Class)
- Prison Board - Public meetings, including statistical reports and on-line minutes and video recordings. Statistical Reports, monthly Prison Board Reports, Reentry Resource Guide, and other resources.
- Criminal Justice Advisory Board - closed to the public

Lehigh County (Third Class)
- Prison Advisory Board - no public information about membership or meetings
- Criminal Justice Advisory Board - closed to public; however, recent annual statistical reports are posted on the county website: [2021 report, 2022 report, 2023 report],
  as well as:
  - Court of Common Pleas annual reports.
  - Administrative and Disciplinary Segregation report (March 2024).

Montgomery County (Second Class A)
- Board of Prison Inspectors - Board members
  The Board meets monthly for inspection of the Montgomery County Correctional Facility (MCCF) and for meeting with the incarcerated individuals in different sections of the prison and addressing their concerns.
- Criminal Justice Advisory Board - no public meetings or recent reports

Northampton County (Third Class)
- Jail Advisory Board - Board members and monthly meeting schedule are public information; meetings are closed to the public since meetings and reports involve resolution of questions/complaints from specific inmates.
- Criminal Justice Advisory Board - usually closed to public; no public reports

Philadelphia Community Oversight Board was created by an amendment to the city charter approved by voters on May 20, 2025.

Mental Health and Criminal Justice

Behavioral Health Summit - Lehigh Co. action plan

identify and divert mental health cases
establish Mental Health Court
establish juvenile CIT (crisis intervention)
create CJAB subcommittee on Behavioral Health

memo

Also see comments on the Behavioral Health Summit (Oct. 28-29, 2024 in Hershey, PA) by Geoff Brace at the Dec. 11, 2024 Lehigh County Board of Commissioners meeting.
(See video recording here.)

The projected costs and economic impact of mental health inequities in the United States (Deloitte Center for Health Solutions: May 15, 2024) If left unaddressed, mental health inequities could lead to about US$14 trillion in excess costs between now and 2040, according to our analysis
Addiction Treatment: Neurocognitive Assessment looks at how addiction impacts the brain:
- Caron Treatment Centers expanding care with groundbreaking treatment
  (WFMZ: Feb 16, 2024)
- Caron Neurocognitive Assessment Program
Treatment Alternatives to Incarceration for Individuals Suffering from Mental Health Conditions (Boston University: May 4, 2023)
Treatment Alternatives to Incarceration for People with Mental Health Needs in the Criminal Justice System (Vera Institute: February 2013)
Well-intentioned mental health courts can struggle to live up to their goals
(NPR: Dec. 21, 2023)
Most Americans with mental health needs don't get treatment, report finds
(NPR: Dec. 13, 2023)
Three years ago, a police officer killed Christian Hall. Now, the PA legislature will study the role of 911 in mental health emergencies. (Spotlight PA: Dec. 28, 2023)
N.J. has a new diversion program for people with mental illness who commit certain types of crimes (WHYY: Dec. 26, 2023)
"You Send Yourselves to Jail" Coercive Diversion in the Allegheny County Mental Health Court (ALC report - December 2023)
This report exposes another abusive, violent, carceral structure, part and parcel of Allegheny County's larger systems of criminalization. The Allegheny County Mental Health Court (MHC), established in 2001, purports to divert participants with documented diagnoses of mental illness out of jail and into community-based treatment facilities. But participation requires stipulations including a guilty plea that fails to spare them from many of the worst consequences of involvement in the criminal legal system, including arrest, a guaranteed criminal record and possible incarceration

Stepping Up (mental health)

Stepping Up: A National Initiative Reducing Overincarceration of People with Mental Illnesses
Stepping Up is a national initiative to reduce the number of people with mental illnesses in jails, with Four Key Measures:
1. Reduce Jail Bookings,
2. Reduce Jail Length of Stay,
3. Increase Connections to Treatment,
4. Decrease Recidivism.
National Association of Counties - Stepping Up Resource Guide (May 9, 2019)
PCCD Presentation Slides on Stepping Up (2021)

Berks County - Stepping Up (includes other resource links) May 10, 2019
Dauphin County - Stepping Up (Sept. 6, 2022; 26-page PDF)
Lehigh County Stepping Up Resolution (March 8, 2023) - There is a brief discussion of the Stepping Up resolution recorded on video with Commissioners Bob Elbich and Dave Harrington, and Drew Taylor (Lehigh County Director of Forensic Services). The 10-minute Stepping Up discussion starts about 30 minutes from the beginning of the video here.
There is a longer report on the Stepping Up Initiative by Drew Taylor ("Chair's Review" during Dec. 13, 2023 meeting of Lehigh County Board of Commissioners). about 35-min. presentation/discussion (beginning at 0:56:30 on video). The video recording is posted here, and the Stepping-Up Initiative presentation slides (PDF) are posted here.
Northampton County Stepping Up Resolution (March 2, 2017; see resolution on pages 3 and 4). However, five years after this resolution was adopted, there are evidently still no statistics available.
National Association on Mental Illness (NAMI) (Stepping Up, Crisis Intervention)

Location: http://justice.ppjr.org/prison2.htm
Last Updated: 3/6/2025
Created: March 31, 2023

Prisons, Criminal Justice, Restorative Justice - Resources

Pennsylvania County Prison Boards

Mental Health and Criminal Justice

Stepping Up (mental health)