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Grand challenge: promote smart decarceration multidisciplinary collaborative database

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Content Capstone Project Paper 1
Grand Challenge: Promote Smart Decarceration
Multidisciplinary Collaborative Database
By
Laura Jasmin Dickerman

A Capstone Project
Presented to:
The Faculty of the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work
University of Southern California
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Social Work (DSW)
May 2021
Capstone Project Paper 2
Acknowledgements
I would love to dedicate this first and foremost to my son Charlie and husband Jacob. I
thank you both for the support, love, understanding, and patience while pursuing this degree. No
amount of “thank you” will ever make up for the contribution you provided me during this
journey. This doctorate is for you both.
I thank my father Osmin, best friend Renato, and sisters for always checking in on me,
pushing me and providing me laughs.
I would like to next thank my cohort who have become my friends and supporters
throughout this journey.
I also want to thank my professor and advisor, Professor Renée Smith-Maddox whose
influence challenged me to go above and beyond.
Lastly, I thank the University of Southern California who made the DSW a rich
experience.

Capstone Project Paper 3
Table of Contents
Executive Summary…………………………………………………………………………….…6
Conceptual Framework……………………………………………………………………………7
Problem Statement………………………………………………………………………...7
What Is Known…………………………………………………………………………....8
Social Significance………………………………………………………………………..8
Conceptual Framework and Logic Model ……………………………………………....10
Problems of Practice and Solution(s)/Innovation(s) ………………………………………….…12
Describing the Proposed Solution/Innovation…………………………………………...12
Contribute to Improving the Grand Challenge for Social Work…………………………13
Stakeholders…………………………………………………………………………...…14
Building on Existing Evidence …………………………………………….……………16
Considering Existing Opportunities……………………………...………………………17
Alignment to Logic Model…………………………………………………………….…17
Likelihood of Success………………………………………...…………………….……18
Project Structure, Methodology, and Action Components………………………………………19
Prototype: The Multidisciplinary Collaborative…………………………………………19
Market Analysis……...………………………………………………………..…………21
MDC’s Methods for Implementation………………………………………………….…23
Financial Plans and Implementation Strategy……………………………………………24
Financial Plan Summary……………………………………...…………………24
Personnel/Staffing Costs…………………………………………………………25
Nonpersonnel Operating Costs…………………………………………………..26
Capstone Project Paper 4
Savings………………………………………………………………………...…………..27
Methods for Assessment of Impact………………………………………………………27
Plan for Relevant Stakeholder Involvement………………………..……………………28
Communication Products and Strategies……………………………………………...…29
The MDC Campaign’s Alignment……………………………………………….29
The Campaign Target……………………………………………………………30
The Campaign……………………………………………………………………30
MDC Addresses the Problem of Practice………………………………………………..31
Addressing Ethical Concerns and Possible Negative Consequences……………………32
Conclusion, Actions, and Implications…………………………………………………………..33
MDC: Inform Potential Future Decisions/Actions………………………………………33
Contextualizing the MDC………………………………………………………………..33
Implications………………………………………………………………………………34
Limitations and Risks……………………………………………………………………35
Implementation Readiness………………………………………….……………………37
Next Steps……………………………………………………………………………..…38
References………………………………………………………………………………………..40
Appendix A: Theory of Planned Behavior………………………………………………………46
Appendix B: Logic Model……………………………………………….………………………47
Appendix C: Prototype: Wireframe…………………………………………..……………….…48
Appendix D: Competitive Analysis Matrix …………………………………….…………….…50
Appendix E: Porter’s 5 Forces………………………………………………………..……….…52
Appendix F: Financial Estimates……………………………………………………………...…53
Capstone Project Paper 5
Appendix G: Procedure and Timeline for Implementation……………..……….………………55
Appendix H: Sample Survey Questions for LAC Sheriff…………………………..……………56
Appendix I: Campaign Strategy for the MDC…………………………………………………...57
Appendix J: Infographic……………………………………………………………………...….59

Capstone Project Paper 6
Executive Summary
The United States is not, at this point ready to monetarily or ethically continue to extend
detainment rates (Epperson et al., 2018). Mass incarceration started in the 1970s. It continues to
be a great challenge within our society as evidenced by the nearly 2.2 million people being held
in jails or prisons (Epperson et al., 2018). Because of the number of people imprisoned long
term, it has become clear that our prison system has become a scourge, and there is a need to
challenge how and why we detain people.
Furthermore, some people are not given sufficient services or interventions to address
their psychological needs during or post-discharge from imprisonment. Because of the absence
of assets and services, numerous individuals unfortunately get arrested and incarcerated more
than once. As Epperson et al. (2018) note, “Successful re-entry to the community remains a great
challenge for those returning home from incarceration” (p. 185).
In order to address this dilemma, the Grand Challenges of Social Work: Promote Smart
Decarceration is the challenge that this capstone project will address. The Multidisciplinary
Collaborative (MDC) Database has been created to address the problem of individuals with
serious mental illnesses (SMI) being detained and incarcerated, and not getting the necessary
mental health support. The database is designed to provide law enforcement relevant data about
people with SMI in order to avoid arresting and detaining them.
Utilizing the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) will help us navigate the project’s aim in
changing the way we currently address individuals with SMI when they come in contact with
law enforcement (Ajzen, 1989). Through TPB, our aim is to influence law enforcement’s
attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s
Office in order to promote a different practice through the utilization of the proposed MDC.
Capstone Project Paper 7
Project implementation relies on the significant support of stakeholders such as the Los
Angeles County Board of Supervisors, which oversees four identified Los Angeles County
Departments (Mental Health, Health Services, Sheriffs, and Superior Court) that can influence
the development of the MDC. Their approval can help with the data sharing necessary for the
MDC as well as the approval in launching the potential start-up and its first full year of
implementation. There have been multiple attempts in addressing the mass incarceration of
individuals, as it will be addressed in the Market Analysis subsection.
Conceptual Framework
Problem Statement
Mass incarceration has been heavily impacted since events starting in the 1970s
contributed to the increase in incarceration rates, as well as the arrests and incarceration of
individuals with mental illness. Such events include policy changes and deinstitutionalization,
which took place concurrently. President Nixon’s War on Drugs, President Reagan’s Tough on
Crime, and President Clinton’s 1994 Crime Control of Act have been noted as factors that
contributed a higher number of individuals being incarcerated (Epperson et al., 2018). Such
policies have caused longer prison sentences, obligatory minimum sentences, and removing a
judge’s capacity to relieve pertinent circumstances of offenses such as a mental illness.
During the 1960’s and 1970’s, asylums were noted as inappropriate agencies to address
mental health and individuals with mental illnesses, which resulted in their being closed down
(Kim, 2016). Through the next 30 years, there was a lack of mental health clinics and a sudden
increase in the jail population, yet patterns of deinstitutionalization and jail population increase is
still up for debate. Despite that, it is crucial to note the possible correlation between an
individual’s mental health and criminal justice involvement.
Capstone Project Paper 8
In 2017, the Bureau of Justice Statistics shared data from 2011-2012 which noted that
66% of women who were in prisons, 68% of women in jails, 33% of men in prisons, and 41% of
men in jail were found to have a type of mental health disorder (BJS, 2017). Mental health
disorders that were identified were 24% of people had a major depressive disorder, 18% a
bipolar disorder, 13% a post-traumatic stress/personality disorder, and 9% a
schizophrenia/psychotic disorder.
What Is Known
Hirschtritt and Binder (2017) share that individuals who have serious mental illnesses
such as schizophrenia, bipolar, and/or a major depressive disorder have a higher likelihood to be
incarcerated in lieu of receiving mental health services within their community. Once in jail, the
same person with SMI may not receive the adequate mental health treatment based on their
needs.
Within my focus location of the Los Angeles County (LAC), research showed that
16,000 individuals were in jails daily (Ochoa et al., 2020, p. 561). Furthermore, from the 16,000
incarcerated individuals, over 5,000 individuals were residing in mental health units. A RAND
study discovered that 61% of the 5,544 people in the mental health units within the LAC jail
were noted as appropriate to be diverted from jails instead of incarceration (Canady, 2020).
Social Significance
Research has shown that according to officers, (1) they are not prepared to address an
individual with a mental disorder, and (2) they would like to take into consideration a person’s
mental health needs when engaging with the person (Compton, Halpern et al., 2017). What is
concerning about these outcomes are that 7 to 10 percent of contact in which law enforcement
engages are with individuals with a mental health need (Munetz & Griffin, 2006). Per Munetz
Capstone Project Paper 9
and Griffin’s (2006) findings, even though law enforcement comes in contact with a person with
mental health needs, authorities have to make a rapid decision on whether they have to send the
individual through the criminal justice system or link them to mental health services.
The long-term objective of the MDC Database is to reduce the number of individuals
with SMI that are incarcerated, as well as assist sheriff’s in feeling supported in identifying and
diverting individuals when appropriate. It is crucial to support law enforcement with the
identified proposed innovative solution, as research has found that about 10% of calls police
respond to involve a person with mental health needs (Watson & Angell, 2013). Sadly, it has
been found that “standard police training prepares officers poorly for how to manage these
encounters,” which police have disclosed to be an issue (p. 30).
Jails have been designed to punish someone who did not adhere to the law and
rehabilitate them to not break the law once released (Fellner, 2008,p. 1082). Fellner (2008)
shares that this type of approach by a jail fails when an individual is not in control of their
behaviors due to their “serious mental illness or organic brain damage” (p. 1082). Prisons are
difficult places for any person, but they are tremendously difficult for an individual with a mental
disorder that impacts their understanding as to why they are there. Furthermore, jail staff are not
well equipped to assist with a detainee with a mental disorder.
Our current political climate has opened up discussions on how to better navigate the
problem. The proposed innovation carries delicate, identifiable background information on an
individual. It will be highly beneficial for sheriffs to take into account an individual’s cultural
background as well as acknowledging individuals with serious mental illnesses as a vulnerable
population. If the proposed capstone is successful after having been piloted for a year, it will be
pertinent to review captured data as it pertains to the individual who was diverted or arrested,
Capstone Project Paper 10
such as specific demographics (age, race, ethnicity, gender, income). The information gathered
may help us analyze further the injustices of diverting and incarcerating vulnerable people and
continue to move toward reconstructing our criminal justice system.
Conceptual Framework and Logic Model
Mayne (2015) notes that the theory of change shows how and why planned ideas are
envisioned to achieve our ideal outcome (p. 127). In order to achieve the idea that sheriffs can
assist in diverting individuals with SMI to mental health programs rather than incarceration, and
decompress the jail facilities, utilizing the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as a conceptual
framework can assist in navigating our theory of change (refer to Appendix A for TPB model).
TPB helps us understand how behavioral intentions are shaped by three core segments:
attitude towards the behavior, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control (Vieira & Leles,
2014). The following are key terms as defined and explained by Ajzen (1989):
Table 1: TPB Terms
Attitude “The first is the attitude toward the behavior and refers to the degree to
which the person has a favorable or unfavorable evaluation of the
behavior in question” (p. 251).

Subjective norm “The second predictor is a social factor termed subjective norm; it refers
to the perceived social pressure to perform or not to perform the behavior”
(p. 251).

Perceived
behavioral
control
“The third and novel antecedent of intention, which was not part of the
theory of reasoned actions, is the degree of perceived behavioral control.
This factor refers to the perceived ease or difficulty of performing the
behavior and it is assumed to reflect past experience as well anticipated
impediments and obstacles” (p. 251).

Intention “Intention, in turn, is viewed as one immediate antecedent of actual
behavior” (p. 251).

Behavior Behavior is the response to the given situation, considered to be a mix of
function of compatible intentions and perception of behavioral control.

Capstone Project Paper 11
Buhmann and Brønn (2018) also note how the variable perceived behavioral control
demonstrates that when a person has adequate resources, opportunity, and capacities necessary to
carry out a behavior, they will feel confident (Buhmann & Brønn, 2018, p. 380). Buhmann and
Brønn further share how, given these opportunities and tools, individuals have an increased sense
of control to carry out specific behaviors. Utilizing this theory, we suggest cooperating with the
LAC Departments that have contact with individuals with SMI. With their participation, we can
recognize their current strategies for recording the data of individuals with SMI, which will be
recorded into the multidisciplinary database in order to help law enforcement by having the
alternative to find information in the electronic database for the individual with which they
interact. This would influence the attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control of
the participating sheriffs, shifting their intention and behavior when perceiving the individual as
someone with a mental health history and their need to divert that person to mental health
services in lieu of arrest.
Utilizing a program logic model, as introduced in Appendix B, we present the resources
needed to achieve the optimal outcomes (Logic Model Development Guide, 2004). To develop
the database we will need commitment from individuals with SMI, law enforcement, mental
health administrations, the criminal justice system, and health programs. We will also promote
the benefits of the database, which would help law enforcement and individuals with SMI to
meet the long-term goal of decompressing the detainment facilities.
This model could potentially offer law enforcement officer an alternative to quickly
acquire proper information on an individual and divert them away from jail. It has to take into
account that every LAC Department utilizes their own data set to keep particular information that
could be added into the multidisciplinary database. A contrary factor is that the criminal justice
Capstone Project Paper 12
system probably will not want to redirect an individual without them having a hearing first. LAC
Departments can serve as partners who attend to mental health wellness and mass detainment.
Problems of Practice and Solution(s)/Innovation(s)
Describing the Proposed Solution/Innovation
My proposed solution for addressing the issue of people with SMI being in correctional
facilities and jails, and not getting proper mental health support, is the development of the
Multidisciplinary Collaborative (MDC). The MDC is a proposed database that will pull from
four partaking LAC divisions (Mental Health, Health Services, Sheriffs, and Superior Court) and
give significant data to officials to recognize and redirect people with SMI with whom they come
in contact as opposed to book and detain (County of Los Angeles, 2019).
The focus target location has been identified as Los Angeles County, California, as per
the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD) website, they hold “the nation's largest mental
health facility,” the Twin Towers Correctional Facility (Los Angeles County Sheriff’s
Department, n.d.). Furthermore, LASD also oversees multiple detention centers and jails within
the LAC. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) will be required from LASD to pilot the
MDC.
For the purpose of this proposed innovation, we will focus on identifying and diverting
individuals with SMI who may have committed low level, nonvictim involved crimes such as
infractions and misdemeanors specific to Los Angeles County penal code (i.e., public urination,
trespass and dwelling, trespass after hours, drug/paraphernalia possession) (Superior Court of
California, n.d.).
The MDC will pull and store information that will help police/authorities (who have been
identified as our user) in having an information base to use when running an individual's name
Capstone Project Paper 13
according to their usual protocol, and along these lines, help them identify the individual that has
a far-reaching mental health history and need (which will be our recognized beneficiary), so
authorities can redirect the individual in lieu of an arrest. When the individual is identified by the
sheriff as a person with SMI, the individual will be connected back to their last mental health
provider, a participating county mental health agency, or crisis center, if necessary. The ideal
results are to have the option to redirect 3,300 people with SMI from imprisonment. The number
of individuals to be redirected from imprisonment was determined by the amount of individuals
found ideal to be diverted by RAND’s recent study (please refer back to What Is Known).
The development of the MDC database will initially assist in distinguishing and setting
up an aggregate effort from four recognized LAC Departments. Efforts will be coordinated by
the development of a multidisciplinary collaborative amongst the identified departments. The
essential pieces of the MDC are as follows: information given to law enforcement, in this case
sheriffs, would be mental history and the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders
(American Psychiatric Association, 2013), mental health diagnosis (as documented by the LAC
Department of Mental Health), mental health and/or psychiatric hospitalizations (as captured by
the LAC Department of Health Services), arrests and booking (as recorded LAC Sheriff's
Department), and hearing outcomes, for instance, incompetent to stand trial or not guilty by
means of insanity (as decided by the LAC Superior Court).
The MDC database will not be implemented with the Los Angeles Police Department
(LAPD) for the time being since the overseeing body depends on the Los Angeles Board of
Police Commissioners, and not the LAC Departments.
Contribute to Improving the Grand Challenge for Social Work
Capstone Project Paper 14
The proposed MDC database is aimed at pulling data from LAC departments (County of
Los Angeles, 2019). The data within the MDC is crucial for sheriffs in order to shift the way our
society currently addresses the care for individuals with SMI. For the purpose of the MDC, it
will focus on individuals with SMI who commit infractions and/or misdemeanors that do not
involve other victims, such as public urination, trespass and dwelling, trespass after hours,
drug/paraphernalia possession, to name a few (Superior Court of California, n.d.).
This data will be input into the MDC, which will be available to law enforcement when
they interact with a person. At the point when law enforcement (sheriffs) runs a person's name in
the MDC, they will be instantly provided with that individual’s broad history of mental health
well-being, mental health diagnosis, and court outcomes as a means to enhance the sheriff’s
understanding of the individual with whom they have come into contact. Rather than
incarceration, we are providing the individual a chance to be given the care they require while
tending to the need to promote smart decarceration and diminish the prison populace.
As Epperson et al. (2018) noted, imprisonment starts with law enforcement, and officers
have to make the decision whether to arrest or release an individual. If we can provide law
enforcement with “alternatives to arrest” (p. 189) and adequate tools such as the MDC, we can
make an impact on how we can address the culture of arrests and imprisonment of individuals
with SMI.
Stakeholders
Key partners who will benefit from the overall implementation and budgeting plans of
the MDC are the Los Angeles County’s Board of Supervisors, LAC Departments, and
individuals with SMI.
Capstone Project Paper 15
To make the MDC plausible, we need to get the LAC Board of Supervisors (County of
Los Angeles, 2019) on board with our proposal. Establishing communication and a committee
based on LAC departmental partners will be necessary to acquire the support from the Board.
The Board of Supervisors holds power in deciding what should or should not come to pass in
their respective county (Roderick, 2006). The Board also oversees identified key partners such as
Department of Mental Health, Health Services, Sheriff’s Department, and other governmental
entities. As for the MDC, the Board of Supervisors holds the final decision on the approval of the
MDC including implementation and/or funding of the prototype.
The partnership and collaboration with the LAC Departments will be a positive influence
in acquiring potential support from the Board of Supervisors. If the MDC can acquire support
from the identified potential collaborators (Department of Mental Health, Health Services,
Superior Court, and Sheriff’s Department), we may get full support from the Board.
The MDC will contribute greatly in that it will not only benefit individuals incarcerated
but also reach the vulnerable population that are individuals with SMI. Law enforcement
officials are recognized as having the most contact with prisoners who are housed in mental
health units compared to those in the general jail population (Appelbaum et al., 2001). They have
expressed that they do not have the much-needed knowledge or training to address people with
SMI (Compton, Halpern et al., 2017). Additionally, they have detailed that they might want to
think about an individual's mental health when they are faced by an individual with SMI.
Moreover, discoveries by Goldberg et al. (2019) fortify the likelihood that people with
mental health needs have a continuously contrary impression of the police and, as such, may be
on edge about their willingness to cooperate with law enforcement and likely to be in danger of
exploitation (p. 66)
Capstone Project Paper 16
Existing Evidence
Austin et al. (2007) has given six suggestions to decrease the jail populace, and with the
end goal of smart decarceration and the proposed MDC database, we will zero in on their fourth
recommendation: “Decriminalize ‘victimless’ crimes, particularly those related to drug use and
abuse” (p. 24). Crimes by people that do not present harm or a danger to others are condemned
and invest a lot of time in prison shielding themselves from people. Austin et al. (2007) shares
that per information obtained from the US Department of Justice, roughly 30%-40% of all
current jail admittance include violations that have no immediate or clear victim other than the
culprit (p. 24). While attempting to eliminate harm to individuals and society from drug-related
misuse and mischief, laws passed by governing bodies sent a huge number of illegal substance
utilizers and illegal substance vendors to jail with prolonged sentences. This does not suggest
that the criminal justice system should ignore the substance use challenge.
In the event that we can use the proposed innovation, the expectation is to have the option
to satisfy one of Austin et al.'s. projection: “People convicted of ‘victimless’ crimes would not be
sentenced to prison” (p. 26). A great number of people detained are charged and sent to jail for
committing crimes such as ownership of unlawful substances, licentious acts, intoxication,
driving impaired, prostitution, vagrancy, loitering, and a wide range of auto-related
infringements are in correctional facilities and set in probation for a significant amount of time.
As Epperson et al. (2018) notes, it is the law enforcement officer’s choice if to detain or
to divert an individual when coming face to face with an individual. In the event that law
enforcement is given the tools to engage with an individual with SMI, the policies, practices, and
process for interacting with individuals with SMI could change. This approach would assist
Capstone Project Paper 17
"with better choices to capture, and responsibility measures can be utilized to guarantee
redirection is happening in an impartial way" (p. 189).
Considering Existing Opportunities
The proposed capstone project centers around the need to address the Grand Challenge
for Social Work: Promote Smart Decarceration (Epperson et al.,2018). The MDC does not just
spotlight on the need to address mass detainment, it will address and contribute to tending to the
significant need to give treatment to people with SMI. It would help people be recognized and
connected to locally based mental health services, just as it gives a guide to law enforcement by
giving the option to distinguish people with SMI. Having the option to record a potential
decrease in imprisonment rates by people with SMI could ideally help diminish incarceration
rates of individuals with SMI in jail, decompress the jail system, and show the positive results of
the MDC capstone project.
Alignment to Logic Model
The aim of the MDC is to assist sheriffs in identifying and diverting individuals with SMI
to a mental health provider to assist in mental health accessibility as well as decompressing the
LAC jails. To accomplish this task, it is crucial to assist law enforcement by contributing
necessary tools, such as crucial and accessible individual information, for sheriffs to utilize to
recognize individuals with SMI.
Working alongside the LAC Departments, such as Mental Health, Health Services,
Sheriffs, and Superior Court, that have come in contact with individuals with SMI can allow us
to analyze their current data keeping methods for recording pertinent information of a person
with SMI and cooperate in sharing and inputting pertinent data information into the MDC.
Centralizing this information will assist Sheriffs in being able to recognize individuals with SMI
Capstone Project Paper 18
with the data they will have at their disposal and redirect them to a mental health provider in lieu
of jail.
Utilizing the logic mode (refer to Appendix B) assists in figuring out constraints,
hypotheses, outcomes, and the assumptions of the proposed project (Logic Model Development
Guide, 2004). Specific resources are needed for developing the database along with commitment
from individuals with SMI, law enforcement, mental health administrations, criminal justice
systems, and hospital entities. The proposed database would help law enforcement and
individuals with SMI to meet the goal of decompressing the detainment facilities.
The idea of this model is that a law enforcement would have the alternative to
expeditiously acquire accurate information on an individual with SMI and divert them away
from jail. Outside components that are also considered are that every LAC Department utilizes
their own information base to keep a specific information history that would be adequately
accessible to incorporate into the multidisciplinary database. Database will be monitored by a
collaborative, intradepartmental team and will be utilized by the Sheriffs department. One
contrary factor to consider is that the criminal justice system probably won't want to redirect an
individual without them having a starter/hearing first. With these assets, LAC Departments can
fill in as partners also in tending to psychological wellness and mass detainment.
Likelihood of Success
The proposed innovation is implementation ready with stakeholders buy-in, primarily
that of the LAC departments and Board of Supervisors. The vision of the MDC is to expand
upon current open information that is accessible inside each LAC departments and enhance the
current modalities in providing support to individuals with mental illness as well as addressing
the dilemma of mass incarceration. The mission is to guarantee that individuals with SMI obtain
Capstone Project Paper 19
the best help and services they can find locally. The MDC has the potential to provide the
sheriffs inside LAC the accurte information they need to help with redirecting people with SMI.
In order for the MDC to have a desired impactful effect, its implementation will assist
with continuing the initiative to decompress the jail system by distinguishing and redirecting
individuals with SMI from prisons when they initially interact with law enforcement. As
identified previously, programs have been developed to address the problem of incarceration and
individuals with SMI, but it continues to be an ongoing challenge. Developing the MDC
database has the potential to assist with tackling this challenge.
This capstone can expand the current resources that the LAC Departments are presently
utilizing to screen and record their contact with individuals with SMI (Satell, 2017). We could
design a data set that does not simply move information from each office into one data set to help
the police, but could similarly anticipate how to transfer individual data to other departments if
the MDC database is found to be successful and useful.
In spite of the fact that it is all theoretical right now, a few boundaries that are predictable
are that the LAC Departments may have lawful reasons regarding why some data may not be
shared among one another that one may not know about, just as the criminal justice system might
not have any desire to deliver a person to a program without a preliminary hearing first.
Notwithstanding these speculative obstructions, we will keep on introducing the advantages of
the MDC database: people with SMI will be recognized quickly, benefit from a reduced risk of
imprisonment, be furnished with mental health treatment, and thusly, decompress the
correctional facilities.
Project Structure, Methodology, and Action Components
Prototype: The Multidisciplinary Collaborative
Capstone Project Paper 20
My proposed innovation will address the problem of mass incarceration by facilitating
diversion of individuals with SMI through a multicollaborative database that provides pertinent
information to sheriffs at first contact with an individual with SMI. The MDC is a data set that
will pull from four distinguished LAC Departments and give essential information to sheriffs so
they can identify individuals with whom they come in contact as SMI and divert them to mental
health agencies or psychiatric hospitals rather than book and detain them.
The proposed prototype is a wireframe for two main MDC components: a principal sign
in page and sample individual’s data page (see Appendix C for both wireframes). We need to
guarantee that despite the fact that it is an information base with various departments accessing
their information, the wireframe can show its usefulness in an essential and easy-to-understand
visual for all partners, recipients, and clients before its implementation.
Utilizing the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) allows us to promote a change in the
opportunity to change the behavior of current detainment practices of individuals by giving law
enforcement a tool that would assist them in acquiring pertinent knowledge of the individual they
face. The tool, the multidisciplinary database, which is a technology design, is aimed at giving
law enforcement an opportunity to carry out a diversion approach rather than detainment of an
individual who commits a crime (for the purpose of the MDC, an infraction or nonvictim
misdemeanor crime) due to their mental health.
The type of design plan that will be used is the one-shot case study (Campbell and
Stanley, 1966, pg. 6, as cited by Schrank, 2006). The purpose behind picking this design is on
the grounds that we would prefer not to test people who have been recorded in the MDC. It is
unscrupulous to expect that people inside the MDC will keep on being captured or imprisoned.
We will test people who interact with law enforcement after the MDC is executed.
Capstone Project Paper 21
To record the outcomes of the MDC, we will gather information through a record
analysis survey questionnaire (Dickerman, 2020). Through record analysis, information will be
continuous and will take note of the quantity of people with SMI who have been redirected away
from jail versus those detained. Survey questionnaires will give us a categorical measurement,
which will permit us to report the fulfillment or dissatisfaction of the MDC users in utilizing the
MDC.
The outcomes we want to have, as a result of the implementation of the MDC, are (1)
record the outcomes of people with SMI that are identified and diverted away from correctional
facilities, (2) decrease the arrests of individuals with SMI in LAC jails, and (3) hear of
satisfaction in utilizing the MDC. With the visuals of the prototype model, we desire to pass on a
thought of how to capture this information with its fundamental wireframe prototyping (refer to
Appendix C).
The wireframe prototype will vigorously affect the usage of the MDC. Funders, partners,
stakeholders, and so on will need an introduction of a proposed development that is effective to
follow and just as effectively available, particularly when it identifies with a generally known
issue. Since my advancement is pointed toward tending to Los Angeles County in California, it
will be critical to be aware of their time and be succinct yet effective in my development/model
pitch. One approach is to ensure the visuals of the model are engaging.
Market Analysis
In Georgia, the "linkage system" pilot helped with distinguishing people with SMI as a
type of prebooking prison diversion (Compton et al., 2017). Law enforcement would connect
with a "linkage specialist" who might furnish the law enforcement official with data on the
individual with whom they have interacted, which included history on the individual’s mental
Capstone Project Paper 22
health. In the event that the individual was associated with a mental health agency, the individual
would be linked back to their agency. Barriers to effective redirection of people with SMI have
been noted, as people with SMI may not give their actual identity/information, data might be
inaccurate in the database, and the database would just incorporate those people who agreed to
have their information be input into the mainframe.
LAC has endeavored numerous sorts of innovative projects to address the issue of
individuals with SMI acquiring services and to diminish the probability of detainment. Full-
Service Partnership (FSP), which consolidates a "whatever it takes" way to deal with helping an
individual, has helped with diminishing rates of detainment or imprisonment inside the criminal
justice system (Ashwood et al., 2018). FSP upholds a 24/7 crisis accessibility and incorporates a
committed group (therapist, medication linkage, in addition to additional team members) to help
the individual keep up their mental health stability within their community (Gilmer et al., 2010)
though the linkage to FSP happens once the person with SMI is in prison, psychiatrically
hospitalized, or once living in the streets.
Projects inside California, for example, that have also assisted in addressing the need to
assist with individuals with SMI and jail contact has been the assisted outpatient treatment
(AOT) (Horne & Newman, 2015). AOT’s goal is to diminish the quantities of imprisoned people
in jails and give them mental health treatment. AOT is a court-ordered outpatient program that
incorporates a partnership between law enforcement and mental health agencies in order to
provide mental health and housing to an individual. The disadvantage to this program has been
that not all with a mental health need meets all requirements for AOT.
Another endeavor to address the detainment of people with SMI in the LAC is by the
LAC Department of Health Services, Office of Diversion and Reentry (ODR). ODR utilizes a
Capstone Project Paper 23
harm reduction and housing first model while incorporating collaborations with specific LAC
establishments (criminal justice system, community agencies) to redirect an individual with SMI
to long-term mental health services and placement (Ochoa et al., 2020). To meet their criteria for
diversion though, an individual is surveyed by an ODR staff, and should they meet their
measures (homeless, SMI, and in jail), the person may be connected to a placement agency and
mental health programs. Despite the fact that it has been fruitful in recognizing people with SMI
from inside the prisons and progressing them to the local area, people are diverted only when
identified as a potential candidate for diversion once they have been detained and incarcerated.
Please refer to Appendix D and Appendix E for a Competitive Analysis and Porter’s 5 Forces,
respectively.
MDC’s Methods for Implementation
The desires outcomes due to the result of the MDC are (1) record the amount of people
with SMI that are identified and diverted, (2) decrease incarceration rates of individuals with
SMI in LAC jails, and (3) the satisfaction in utilizing the MDC.
The proposed structure is as per the following: during the "Start-up" stage, the
arrangement is to wrap up the examination in regards to legal mandates that MDC's information
base should follow (for example Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
compliance), tying down funds to make ensure the necessary software programming is in place,
hire the database developer, build up the database, secure an area that will fill in as the working
center, and dispatch a mock database for testing purposes. Moreover, during this time span, we
will make a point to prepare 100 participating sheriffs through the LAC Departments in using the
database and surveying its purpose.
Capstone Project Paper 24
Using the discrete strategy of restructure, it will improve the objective of how to interact
with people with SMI, just as how experts, for example, sheriffs, can change their methodology
in choosing if an individual should go to prison or divert them to mental health programs. Key
implementation strategies that will need to be kept in mind include changing the role of a sheriff,
for example, to be advocates for individuals in need of mental health diversion (Powell et al.,
2011). Likewise, we will need to ensure that we have a clinical expert, such as the LAC
Department of Mental Health, giving pertinent and accessible mental health history to a sheriff
so he or she can gain insight into an individual’s need. Also, we should change the center point
wherein the MDC will be housed; in a perfect world, it would be its own operating system away
from the sheriffs so it can work without an being influenced by single departmental parties.
Additionally, it will include the kind of gear we will use for the MDC: a shared, multifaceted
information base open to sheriffs. The identified strategies will occur at an individual,
organizational, and/or policy level, and happen in the following occasions: pre-operational,
operational, or potentially post-operational stages (please refer to Appendix G).
Financial Plans and Implementation Strategy
Financial Plan Summary
During the start-up and First-Full-Year-of Operations (FFYO), funding should be
obtained through grants and/or county-based funding. Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration (SAMHSA) has a Law Enforcement and Behavioral Health Partnerships
for Early Diversion grant (SAMHSA, n.d.) that would be appropriate for designing and
implementing the MDC database. This grant can awards up to $330,000 per year, for a maximum
of five years. The purpose of the grant is to implement programs that will assist in diverting
individuals with SMI or co-occurring disorders away from the criminal justice system and
Capstone Project Paper 25
instead towards programs within the community rather than arrests and/or booking. Grant
writing, submission, and deadlines will be monitored on an on-going basis.
The MDC's start-up plan is assessed to require about nine months for preparation.
Expected total costs are $159,600 with a $170,400 surplus, which may be returned to the granted
(depending on the grant contractual agreement) or can be reinvested or reserved for potential
expenses not identified previously. During the FFYO, expected costs are adding up to
$295,205.60 with a surplus of $34,794.40.
Table 2. Financial Summary
Start-Up FFYO
Revenue $333,000 $333,000
Expenses
• Staffing
(including
benefits)
• Other Expenses
o Total
Expenses

• $87,600

• $72,00
o $159,600

• $164,805.60

• $130,400
o $295,205.60
Surplus $170,400 $34,794.40

Personnel/Staffing Costs
During the start-up implementation, a database developer will be expected to join the pre-
operational group to help with the improvement of the MDC. The expected costs for a database
developer are projected to be at $73,000. The database developer will have the accompanying
Capstone Project Paper 26
education and/or experience: a four-year college education or higher in software engineering or
related training, at the very least five years' experience, and ideally in clinical or mental health
database development. The database developer will have the choice to pursue a benefits package,
with benefits figured at 20% of their compensation ($14,600).
During the FFYO period, it has been identified that the following staff are required: a
database manager and a clinical consultant/point person. Complete costs for a database manager
are $57,338 for the year and would include a benefits package, with benefits factored at 20% of
the proposed compensation ($11,467.60). A desired candidate would have at least five years'
involvement with data management and hold a four-year college education or higher in software
engineering or related schooling.
A clinical consultant will also be the point person during the MDC’s FFYO. Expected
compensation is at $80,000 every year and would likewise include a benefits package calculated
at 20% of the compensation ($16,000). Because the MDC includes pertinent mental health data,
it is anticipated that the clinical consultant carries the following education and experience: a
graduate degree or higher in social work or similar educational background; holds an active
clinical license with the Board of Behavioral Sciences in California.
Nonpersonnel Operating Costs
Expected pre-operational costs during the start-up are $72,000. Please refer to Appendix
F for a breakdown on the pre-operational costs. The training is a variable expense, and if changes
should be made on the number of trainings needed, there is sufficient funds in the grant to cover
those costs. The software/programming and lease are expected to stay fixed costs.
During the FFYO, it is assessed that $130,400 will be used for operational costs. Please
refer to Appendix F for a breakdown on the operating costs. Predictable variable expenses are
Capstone Project Paper 27
hardware, travel, and preparation, and if necessary, there is adequate surplus to take care of the
expenses. Expected fixed expenses are the database framework, database manageability, HIPAA
consistent host with firewalls, HIPAA compliant network, insurance, and working center.
Savings
Savings can also be hypothetically substantial with the MDC. If the data that were shared
by the LAC Department of Health Services - Office of Diversion and Reentry’s medical director,
Dr. Kristen Ochoa, are accurate, it is noted that over $600 a day is spent on an inmate, which
does not include health costs (Perry, 2020). If 3,300 individuals were to spend at least one day at
Twin Towers Correctional facility, expenses are estimated at $1,980,000. If the MDC is able to
divert at least 3,300 individuals with SMI, it would save the county a substantial amount.
Methods for Assessment of Impact
In order to measure the impact of the MDC, there will be various components that will be
utilized to monitor its success: sample, design type, recruitment, data collection and
measurement, and review of strengths and weaknesses.
For the purpose of the MDC, we will sample two single groups: individuals with SMI
within the LAC who come in contact with LAC sheriffs, and LAC sheriffs who will utilize the
MDC. We will want to recruit 100 sheriffs and utilize a number generator to assign and acquire
their feedback. As for individuals with SMI, we hope we can capture at least 1,000 individuals,
which is a third of the proposed divertible individuals. Our aim is to design an appropriate
diversion approach, implement and review the usability of the database.
The type of design we will use will be utilizing is a One-Shot Case Study (Campbell &
Stanley, 1966, pg. 6, as cited by Schrank, 2006). At times, the one-shot case study has been
considered a pre-experimental design. The reasoning for this is that we do not want to sample
Capstone Project Paper 28
individuals who have been recorded in the MDC. It would be unethical to assume that they will
be arrested and incarcerated. So, we will be sampling individuals who come in contact with
authorities after the MDC is implement. Though, I do acknowledge, we run the risk of no
internal or external validity. The results we hope to see are a change in diversion and arrests of
individuals with SMI.
Data collection will be gathered via continuous and categorical approaches to measure
our data. The identified Database Manager and Clinical Consultant will continue to monitor and
review the data collected throughout the FFYO. For continuous, we will be utilizing a record
analysis to identify the number of individuals who were diverted versus those who were arrested
and/or jailed. As for categorical, we will utilize a survey questionnaire to measure the
satisfaction of utilizing the MDC by sheriffs. The survey is self-developed and accessible in
Appendix H.
Identified variables that will be measured are: (1) individuals with SMI who are diverted,
(2) individuals with SMI who are arrested and/or jailed, (3) sheriffs’ satisfaction with the
database, (4) sheriffs’ lack of satisfaction. The outcomes we hope to garner are seeing a good
number of individuals with SMI being diverted away from jails versus being incarcerated, and
sheriff’s being satisfied in utilizing the database.
Plan for Relevant Stakeholder Involvement
The essential segments of the MDC are: information given to law enforcement/sheriffs
would be mental history and a mental health diagnosis (provided by the LAC Department of
Mental Health), psychiatric hospitalizations (as noted by LAC Department of Health Services),
arrests (through LAC Sheriff's Department), and hearing outcomes, for instance, incompetent to
Capstone Project Paper 29
stand trial or not guilty by means of insanity (as deemed by LAC Superior Court). Information
will be compartmentalized into the MDC, which will be only open to LAC sheriffs.
When the sheriff' makes the assurance that an individual is a person with SMI, the
individual will be connected back to their last mental health provider or to a participating
psychiatric hospital for continued mental health support and stabilization. A person with SMI
will not be connected to services to address their psychological well-being necessities
exclusively. The drawn-out objective is to likewise see a decrease in confinement rates and
decompress our prison framework.
A person with SMI might be restricted with the accessibility to mental health programs
and linkage, especially when released in the community, which can in turn add on to the cycling
through prison and their community. Likewise, if a person with SMI is connected to a mental
health provider and are detained, the individual may not acquire the proper mental health and/or
medication, which can exacerbate their symptoms and behaviors.
Communication Products and Strategies
The MDC Campaign’s Alignment
My focus for the implementation of the MDC is inside the Los Angeles County,
California, on the vulnerable populace that are people with SMI. As previously noted, more than
16,000 individuals are held in Los Angeles jails daily (Ochoa et al., 2020, p.561), and 5,000
people reside within mental health jail units (Canady, 2020). For those 5,000 individuals, 61%
are qualified to be diverted into our community, and aligns with the grand challenge of
promoting smart decarceration.
There is a moral segment as to why a campaign is expected to address individuals with
SMI. This strategy would greatly impact multiple audiences such as stakeholders, users, and
Capstone Project Paper 30
individuals with SMI. There is an obligation to hold fast to the Code of Ethics (NASW, n.d.) as a
social worker. The value of social justice is vital. It is part of our code to advance help and
backing for issues pertaining to the underrepresented. For this situation, the relevant group is
people with SMI. They genuinely need help and services to flourish within the community. Also,
code 6.04 Social and Political Action is significant for this advancement. People with SMI who
are in contact with law enforcement have a greater disadvantage that a large number of us might
not have, which is to have both criminal justice system involvement and a mental health need.
The MDC’s campaign strategy will be guided by Katie Paine ’s book Measure What
Matters, as cited by Kanter (2012). Refer to Appendix I for a guided sample.
The Campaign Target
To design the pilot the MDC database, the feedback from a diverse group of people with
SMI who have had contact with the criminal justice system and sheriffs who encountered people
with SMI are needed. Their insights can support the need to change in the diversion process for
individuals with SMI versus detaining them inside a LAC prison.
To make the MDC conceivable, a major entity that would be necessary in promote the
implementation of the MDC is the LAC Board of Supervisors (County of Los Angeles, 2019).
The influences exerted by the Board are both legislative and executive with “some quasi-judicial
ones” (Roderick, 2006). The Board oversees the jails, the sheriff’s department, public hospitals,
and numerous other departmental entities, and chooses what ought to and ought not to pass
inside the Los Angeles County.
The Campaign
The MDC’s campaign components to reach individuals are facts, emotions, and
stakeholders. Through rationale/facts, we will need to pass on the message to our partners that
Capstone Project Paper 31
the current information we have includes (1) the challenge of people with SMI detained inside
LAC correctional facilities, (2) data showing that 61% of people housed in LAC jail mental
health units are ideal to be diverted into the community (Canady, 2020), and (3) financial
savings.
We want our speakers, such as jail and mental health specialists as well as individuals
with SMI, to speak about why diversion is required. As Knight (2018) calls attention to,
storytelling can be firmly convincing and can help support compassion and comprehension for
people. This is the reason having individuals with SMI recount their tales about their
involvement with law authorization can give us not only insight but additionally open up
conversations to other individuals with similar experiences. Storytelling by experts/specialists
can also be beneficial as it can propel change. As Knight noted, “It is important that stories be
told about all people and by all people” (2018). An approach to do this is in the accompanying
structures that we can use to arrive at partners: electronic messages and municipal centers. We
can share data that is accumulated by people with SMI and specialists like statements,
recordings, and letters.
MDC Addresses the Problem of Practice
The MDC is built to address the current grand challenge of promoting smart
decarceration in LAC, which holds a substantial number of individuals incarcerated on any given
day, especially individuals with SMI. The MDC is aimed to address how LAC sheriffs can
identify and divert individuals with SMI into mental health services rather than having them
undergo the challenge of navigating the criminal justice system. It is evident that a substantial
number of programs within our country, especially within LAC, have attempted to address this
issue, but it continues to be a dilemma. The MDC is aim at working via a multi-departmental
Capstone Project Paper 32
collaborative approach in which successful tools and resources used within each department can
be included into a solitary database, which can hypothetically be of substantial use for
individuals with SMI, sheriffs, and the County of Los Angeles. Individuals will be able to
acquire the necessary mental health care, Sheriffs will be able to have the required tools and
trainings at their disposal at the fraction of the cost of incarceration.
Furthermore, this would assist in addressing the issue of mass incarceration of individuals
within our nation. If the MDC is successful, it can potentially expand its partnership with other
departmental entities and state. Furthermore, it can also assist in substantial cost savings with the
County of Los Angeles, as much as $600 a day per individual diverted as identified under
Savings.
Addressing Ethical Concerns and Possible Negative Consequences
In developing the MDC, ethical concerns and negative consequences have been heavily
considered. Ethical concerns and negative consequences addressed have been keeping client data
sharing safe and adhering to the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) code of ethics
(NASW, n.d.).
In regard to sharing pertinent mental health information, the Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was reviewed and taken into account. Following the Family &
Children’s Index (FCI) Model (Service Integration Branch, 2018), the MDC will take the same
steps in order to follow state laws in regard to gathering pertinent client information and entering
it into one location. FCI was allowed by the State of California to have identifiable information
on families and children who have had contact with participating LAC departments, such as the
district attorney, mental health services, health services, children and family services, probation,
public health, public social services, and sheriffs, to identify families/children at risk of potential
Capstone Project Paper 33
abuse/neglect. Also, to comply with HIPAA, the network established for the MDC will be
HIPAA compliant.
It will be within our social work practice to ensure we adhere to our NASW code of
ethics. Following the value of social justice with the ethical principle of social workers challenge
social injustice is key in supporting the grand challenge of promoting smart decarceration
(NASW, n.d.). It is within our code to promote support and advocacy for issues on the
oppressed. In this case, it is individuals with SMI. They are in need of support and services to
thrive in our communities. Furthermore, within the Ethical Standards, 6. Social Workers' Ethical
Responsibilities to the Broader Society; 6.04 Social and Political Action is important for this
innovation. Individuals with SMI who are in contact with law enforcement have a well-founded
disadvantage that many of us may not have which includes involvement with the criminal justice
system and a mental illness. We must provide a chance and a voice to individuals with SMI who
would be better serviced in the community than in jails.
Conclusion, Actions, and Implications
MDC: Inform Potential Future Decisions/Actions
The MDC aims to guide how we address the care and incarceration of individuals with
SMI. The aim is to provide this vulnerable population with the ability to acquire mental health
care rather insist upon incarceration where they are less than likely to acquire the care they
deserve. Through the MDC innovation, if the individual commits a nonvictim involved infraction
of misdemeanor, the sheriffs are given the tools to make the decision of diverting the individual
as well. The sheriffs will hold more attainable resources to assist individuals with SMI.
Contextualizing the MDC
Capstone Project Paper 34
Highlighting the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), it is possible to change how
attitudes, norms, and behaviors can be influenced, such that intentions and behaviors can be
shifted (Ajzen, 1989). Using the MDC could influence law enforcement to provide a different
way to engage with an individual with SMI. Using TPB to design the MDC could possible
change decision made by sheriffs, such as gaining knowledge of the individual prior to detaining
the individual who commits an infraction or nonvictim misdemeanor crime. With this
knowledge, it allows them to divert individuals to a designated mental health agency in lieu of
incarceration.
Implications
Within the LAC, there have been numerous attempts to assist in diverting individuals
with SMI in and outside of the criminal justice system, as evidenced by previously identified
programs such as LAC Department of Health Services’ Office of Diversion and Reentry and
LAC Department of Mental Health, and Full-Service Partnership (Ochoa et al., 2020; Ashwood
et al., 2018).
The MDC will proceed with reaching the vulnerable population of people with both SMI
and criminal justice system histories. Police officers are recognized as having the most contact
with prisoners who are have mental health disturbances and needs, and housed in the jails
(Appelbaum et al., 2001). They have revealed that they don't have the suitable preparations
expected to address people with SMI (Compton, Halpern et al., 2017). Additionally, they have
revealed that they might want to mull over an individual's mental well-being at the point at
which they are come in contact with an individual with SMI.
Capstone Project Paper 35
In like manner, research by Goldberg et al. (2019) reinforce the likelihood that people
with mental health needs have a dynamically pessimistic impression of the police and as such
may be suspicious about helping out the specialists and at risk for exploitation (p. 66)
Mayne (2015) recommends the hypotheses of progress to show how and why the
proposed usage is envisioned achieving our proposed result (p. 127). How should we assist
officers in perceiving individuals with SMI and interfacing with them to provide much required
psychological well-being programs in order to decompress jails? To achieve this goal, we need
to take get commitment from officials and recognize their struggles in perceiving individuals
with SMI.
Since research and innovations continue to take place for how to assist individuals with
SMI, especially in LAC, the MDC database takes a collaborative approach in recognizing a
person with SMI from the moment they come in contact with the police.
To gauge the implementation of the MDC, it will be imperative to record the MDC's
effect when it is used within the LAC. If it is effective, we will see a decline in quantities of
people in jails, an increase in the number of people with SMI being assisted in addressing their
mental health needs, and police expressing support of the MDC. Finally, we will need the MDC
to address the Grand Challenge of Promote Smart Decarceration and diminishing the general
prison rates in the LAC.
Limitations and Risks
It is imperative to note that despite there being possibilities of addressing the issue of
diverting individuals with SMI away from jails, there can be some limitations and risks. Some
identified limitations and risks have been HIPAA, case study, cultural implications, and criminal
charges.
Capstone Project Paper 36
An individual’s mental health is a delicate issue and sharing that kind of information
through data is a challenge. It will be necessary to understand the legality of the information that
is being shared and ensuring that this information is used for mental health support and
diversion, and in no means a way to further stigmatize the individual. Keeping in mind the steps
that FCI took to share client data on children and families into a central entity, it will be
important to have in place all the necessary documents, programs, services, etc. in place such as
a memorandum of understanding (MOU), contracts, state/local government seal of approvals,
etc.
For the purpose of the MDC, a one-shot case study will be utilized. It does run the risk of
having no internal or external validity, but it is appropriate for the MDC. It would be against our
ethics as social workers to assume a previously arrested and incarcerated individual will be in
contact with authorities again, so we will capture our sample after the implementation of the
MDC and gather data on individuals with SMI who come in contact with law enforcement.
At this time, the MDC is focused on the vulnerable population that are individuals with
SMI. There is substantial data and research supporting the need to address the disproportionately
large numbers of incarcerated Black and Latinx, and Black and Latinx individuals who are
involved with the criminal justice in any given way (i.e., courts, parole to name a few) (Ramos-
Yamamoto & Davalos, 2021). Despite not addressing the demographic injustices within the
criminal justice system, with the data captured with the MDC, we can also utilize code data
analytics that can incorporate predictive coordinates. Analysis of specific demographics of
individuals with mental health needs that come in contact with law enforcement is necessary in
order to continue to address the disproportionality of incarcerated individuals in the jail system.
Capstone Project Paper 37
Lastly, it is also crucial to keep in mind the reasons as to why the criminal justice system
is in place. Victims or individuals in general have the right to a fair trial. Due to this, for the
purpose of the MDC, we will only focus on diverting individuals with SMI who commit charges
that do not involve a victim at the infraction and misdemeanor level, and not divert individuals
involved in high-risk misdemeanors or overall felonies. We want to ensure we provide the best
treatment to an individual with SMI and recognize that there is a lack of access to adequate
treatments.
Implementation Readiness
The MDC proposal is ready to be to the identified LAC departments and approval by the
Board of Supervisors of the County of Los Angeles. With their approval, the MDC will acquire
the necessary partnerships as well as tentative budget analysis in order to implement this
proposal. The Board of Supervisors comprises five members who represent the county and
engage governmental tasks such as keeping meeting agendas, proceedings, and reviewing
departmental memos (Board of Supervisors, 2019). Within their tasks, they also hear
recommendations from their departments and county, engage in discussions on items such as
presentations, and have a final say as to if a program, recommendations, or funding will be
permissible.
The final steps to implement the MDC, if approved by LAC Board of Supervisors, is for
the MDC proposal to be presented and shared with potential funders such as grant providers and
funders, governmental sectors, and stakeholders. In an effort to catch an individual’s immediate
attention, the proposed wireframe (as available in Appendix C), funding summary (see Appendix
F), and infographic (see Appendix J) are readily available to the public. Furthermore, a
Capstone Project Paper 38
comprehensive overview titled Call to Action (available upon request) has been developed to
further promote the sharing of the information to potential influencers and stakeholders.
The final steps to implement the MDC are the participation of the identified LAC
departments and approval by the Board of Supervisors of the County of Los Angeles. With their
approval, the MDC will acquire the necessary partnerships as well as tentative budget analysis in
order to implement this proposal. The Board of Supervisors comprises five members who
represent the county and engage governmental tasks such as keeping meeting agendas,
proceedings, and reviewing departmental memos (Board of Supervisors, 2019). Within their
tasks, they also hear recommendations from their departments and county, engage in discussions
on items such as presentations, and have a final say as to if a program, recommendations, or
funding will be permissible.
Due to the MDC relying heavily on the Board’s final say, acquiring support from
influencers like the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and community prior to coming forward
to the Board will be crucial. The Board of Supervisors will also be informed about the potential
grants, its purpose and potential. If we are able to implement the MDC with the Board’s approval
but have to acquire funding elsewhere, as previously identified, SAMHSA’s Law Enforcement
and Behavioral Health Partnerships for Early Diversion Grant or similar grant will be one
attempt to do so.
Next Steps
In closing, it will be necessary to continue to be up to date with the changes within our
county and country that continue to influence how we can further address the grand challenge of
promoting smart decarceration and addressing the problem of diverting individuals with SMI
through a multidisciplinary collaborative database that provides pertinent information to sheriff’s
Capstone Project Paper 39
at first contact. It will be important to determine if there is an interest in and will to develop the
multidisciplinary collaborative database. Within the state of California, a report was released that
addresses the need to declare racism as a “public health crisis” (Ramos-Yamamoto & Davalos,
2021). This is important as findings by experts such as this continue to influence our projects and
ways we can assist our community. Exploring the development of diversion initiatives for
individuals with SMI will continue. Keeping this in mind can further contribute to influence the
MDC’s aim in addressing a wider range of social work challenges.
Furthermore, it will be critical to continue to follow the criminal justice system’s impact
on vulnerable populations throughout our country. It is crucial to analyze current laws that
contribute to recidivism, bail requirements, and local statutes. Furthermore, further study is
needed to analyze the use or lack thereof legal outcomes such as “not guilty by reason insanity”
versus charging an individual. Every state and jurisdiction has their own way in which they
proceed with legal charges, as well as how they work with an individual with SMI. It is clear
there is no one clear way to address the vulnerable individuals with SMI.
Further plans for the success of implementing the capstone proposal are developing an
advocacy plan and establishing conversations with influencers; developing argument for
saving/dividends of a diversion program; seeking advice from database experts; as well as
having open conversations with individuals with SMI, lawyers and mental health court judges
regarding the MDC.
Lastly, with the potential benefits of the MDC, it will be imperative to support how code
data analytics can help expand the need to provide further support in addressing the
socioeconomic, racial, and special needs disparities within the criminal justice system that have
yet to be addressed.
Capstone Project Paper 40
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Greenwald (Eds.), The third Ohio State University Vol. on attitudes and persuasion.
Attitude structure and function (p. 241–274). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision
Processes, 50(2), 179–211.
Appelbaum, K., Hickey, J., & Packer, I. (2001). The role of correctional officers in
multidisciplinary mental health care in prisons. Psychiatric Services, 52(10), 1343–1347.
https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.52.10.1343
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental
disorders (5th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596
Ashwood, J., Kataoka, S., Eberhart, N., Bromley, E., Zima, B., Baseman, L., Marti, F.A.,
Kofner, A., Tang, L., Azhar, G.S., Chamberlin, M., Erickson, B., Choi, K., Zhang, L.,
Miranda, J., & Burnam, M.A. (2018). Evaluation of the Mental Health Services Act in
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Capstone Project Paper 46
Appendix A

Theory of Planned Behavior

Notes: Adapted from Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Process: Ajzen (1991)

Capstone Project Paper 47
Appendix B
Logic Model

Project: Develop a multi-disciplinary database that will pull from four participating Los Angeles County departments (Mental Health, Health
Services, Superior Court, Sheriffs) that will hold an individual’s overall mental health history (i.e. incarcerations, found incompetent to stand
trial/not guilty by reason of insanity, psychiatric hospitalizations, mental health services, history of arrests and charges) in order to assist
sheriffs in taking into consideration when diverting an individual with serious mental illness.

Goal: Diverting individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) away from jail at first contact with authorities.
INPUTS ACTIVITIES OUTCOMES
What we invest What we do Who we reach
Why this project:
short-term results
Why this project:
intermediate results
Why this project:
long-term results
• Database
• Individuals with
SMI
• Law enforcement
• Mental health
services
• Superior
Court/legal history
outcomes
• Health
services/psychiatric
hospitalization
• Promote the
benefits of
utilizing the
database
• Create the
database
• Train law
enforcement
on utilizing the
database
• Law
enforcement
• Individuals with
SMI
• Mental Health
providers
• Criminal Justice
System
• Authorities will be
able to identify an
individual with SMI
• Divert an
individual to a
mental health
provider or
psychiatric
hospital for crisis
stabilization.
• Individuals with
SMI once
identified would
not be sent to jail.
• Individuals with
SMI will be
identified and
provided with
adequate mental
health services.

• Identify and
divert individuals
with SMI.
• Mental health
care for those in
high need rather
than jail.
• Decompress the
jails.

Assumptions
• Easy and fast to run a person’s information and get
immediate results on their mental health history and needs.
• Individuals with SMI will be able to acquire adequate
treatment and not have to endure further distress and
untreated mental illness while in jail.
External Factors
• Positive: Each Los Angeles County Department holds their own
database/records of the individuals they come in contact with.
• Negative: Superior court/criminal justice system may not want to
release an individual to a program without a trial first.

Capstone Project Paper 48
Appendix C
Prototype: Wireframe

Capstone Project Paper 49

Capstone Project Paper 50
Appendix D
Competitive Analysis Matrix

Capstone Project Paper 51

Capstone Project Paper 52

Appendix E
Porter’s 5 Forces

The Multidisciplinary
Collaborative (MDC)
database will
incorporate equal
access on demand for
law authorities.
Competition:
1. AC DHS ODR
2. Georgia's "Linkage
Specialist"
3. LAC DMH FSP
4. AOT
Los Angeles County Departments
(Mental health, Health Services,
Superior Court, Sheriffs) have
completed and signed
Authorization for Release of
Protected Health Information (PHI)
by the client in order to have
departments share their
information between each other.
The criminal justice
system may benefit in
the buying into the
MDC as it can
hopefully assist in the
greater vision of
decompressing jails of
individuals with (SMI)
who impact their cost
rates, and stabilize
revenue.
Database
manufacturers will
potentially gain
recognition on its new
database which may
open opportunities for
larger
merging/partnered
organizations, besides
mental health, criminal
justice related
agencies.
This can be organizations at a
large scale that may want to
manage larger scale projects
at an instant, such as supply
and demand on goods.
Also, the MDC may be
accessible for one particular
LAC department wishing to
understand the trends of
someone who comes to their
agency for services.
Threat of New Entrants
Competitive
Rivalry
Suppliers
Buyers
Substitutes
2
nd
Tier Buyers
Porter's 5 Forces Example
Capstone Project Paper 53
Appendix F
Financial Estimates

Multidisciplinary Collaborative (MDC) Database Start-Up Budget for 9 months
(Estimates)
Revenues Estimates
• Law Enforcement and Behavioral
Health Partnerships for Early
Diversion Grant (SAMHSA)

$330,000 per year

Total Revenues $330,000

Expenses
Staffing
• Database Developer (Full time)
§ Benefits at 20% of salary

$73,000/year (yr)
$14,600

Total Staffing $87,600

Pre-Operation Expenses
• Database Program/Software
• Equipment
• Training on using database (one-time
cost)
• Operating Hub
§ initial leasing fees and 1
st

month’s rent
§ Rent
$20,000
$5,000
$5,000

$6,000

$36,000 (@$4,000/mo)
Total Pre-Operation Expenses $72,000

Total Expenses $159,600

Surplus/Deficit $170,400

Capstone Project Paper 54

Multidisciplinary Collaborative (MDC) Database First-Full-Year-of-Operation Budget
(Estimates)
Revenues Estimates
• Law Enforcement and Behavioral
Health Partnerships for Early
Diversion Grant (SAMHSA)
$330,000/year

Total Revenues $333,000

Expenses
Staffing
• Salaries
§ Database Manager
o Benefit package 20% of
salary
§ Clinical Consultant/Point Person
o Benefit package 20% of
salary

$57,338/yr
$11,467.60/yr

$80,000/yr
$16,000/yr

Total Staffing $164,805.60

Operating Expenses
§ Database System
§ Database System sustainability
§ HIPAA compliant hosting (Include)
Firewalls and 24/7 IT support
§ HIPAA Compliant networks
§ Liability Insurance
§ Equipment
§ Travel
§ Training
§ Operating Hub
$20,000/yr
$20,000/yr
$4800/yr

$3,600/yr
$2,000/yr
$20,000/yr
$5,000/yr
$7,000/yr
$48,000/yr (@$4,000/month)
Total Operating Expenses $130,400

Total Expenses $295,205.60

Surplus/Deficit $34,794.40
Capstone Project Paper 55
Appendix G
Procedure and timeline for implementation
• Utilizing a discrete implementation strategies: Restructure

Strategy Changes Timeline
Revise Professional Roles
(Cochrane EPOC Group, 2002; Glisson et al.; 2010; Glisson &
Schoenwald, 2005; Schoenwald, 2010, as cited by Powell et al., pp.
143, 2011)
Individual;
Organization
Pre-Operation (9 month Start-Up);
Operation (First year of operation)
Create New Clinical Teams
(Clark et al., 2009; Cochrane EPOC Group, 2002, as cited by Powell et
al., pp. 143, 2011)
Organization Pre-Operation
Change Service Sites
(Cochrane EPOC Group, 2002; as cited by Powell et al., pp. 143, 2011)
Organization Pre-Operation;
Operation
Change physical structure and equipment
(Cochrane EPOC Group, 2002; Leeman et al., 2007, as cited by Powell
et al., pp. 143, 2011)
Organization;
Policy
Pre-Operation;
Operation
Facilitate relay of clinical data to providers
(Cochrane EPOC Group, 2002; Shojania, McDonald, Wachter, &
Owens, 2004, as cited by Powell et al., pp. 143, 2011)
Organization;
Policy
Operation;
Post-Operation (After first year of
operation)
Change records systems
(Cochrane EPOC Group, 2002; Hysong et al., 2007; Leeman et al.,
2007, as cited by Powell et al., pp. 143, 2011)
Organization;
Policy
Operation;
Post-Operation
Start a purveyor organization
(Schoenwald, 2010, as cited by Powell et al., pp. 143, 2011)
Organization Operation

Capstone Project Paper 56
Appendix H

Sample Survey Questions for LAC Sheriff

1. Is the MDC easy to access?
• a. Easy
• b. Hard
• c. Unable to access
2. Was the information in the MDC (i.e., arrest history, mental health history, psychiatric
hospitalizations, and legal outcomes) helpful when coming face to face with an individual with
SMI?
• a. Yes
• b. No
• c. Sometimes
3. Was the information provided by MDC sufficient to determine if an individual was a person
with SMI and if they should be diverted from jail?
• a. Yes
• b. No
• c. Sometimes
4. How often did you utilize the MDC?
• a. Every time you ran an individual’s identifiable information
• b. When you received a crisis call
• c. When the individual committed a specific crime
5. Is there other information you feel would be useful to have in order to identify an individual
with SMI?
• a. Yes: __________________
• b. No
• c. I don’t know

Capstone Project Paper 57
Appendix I
Campaign Strategy for the MDC
*Utilizing Katie Paine ’s book Measure What Matters as cited by Kanter (2012)
Define your goals • Individuals with SMI diverted from jail compared to those
arrested/jailed
• Satisfaction with the utilization of the database by our users
Define your
audience
• Individuals with SMI
• Los Angeles County Sheriffs
• Board of Supervisors of Los Angeles County
Define your
benchmarks
• LAC Office of Diversion and Reentry
o Diverted 3,579 individuals with SMI since 2015 through
July 2019.
• RAND
o 61% of the 5,000 individuals in mental health units in
jails are divertible.
Define your metrics • Variables
o Individuals with SMI diverted
o Individuals with SMI arrested/jailed
o Satisfaction with the database
o Lack of Satisfaction with the database

• If unsuccessful, we will need to ensure that we:
o reanalyze the MDC,
o review risks and benefits of MDC in diverting
individuals with SMI, and
o identify/review potential barriers

Define your time
and costs
• See Appendix F
Capstone Project Paper 58
Data analysis • Record Analysis
o Continuous measurement approach
o Record the number of individuals with SMI diverted
versus arrests/jailed
• Survey Questionnaire
o Self-developed
o Categorical approach
o Capture user’s satisfaction or lack of satisfaction in
using the MDC

Capstone Project Paper 59
Appendix J
Infographic

Abstract (if available)

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Asset Metadata

Creator Dickerman, Laura Jasmin (author)

Core Title Grand challenge: promote smart decarceration multidisciplinary collaborative database

School Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work

Degree Doctor of Social Work

Degree Program Social Work

Degree Conferral Date 2021-05

Publication Date 05/21/2021

Defense Date 04/06/2021

Publisher Los Angeles, California (original), University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag MDC,MDC database,multidisciplinary collaborative database,OAI-PMH Harvest,promote smart decarceration,serious mental illness,SMI

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance), University of Southern California (contributing entity)

Advisor Smith-Maddox, Renee (committee chair), Blosnich, John (committee member), Fatouros, Cassandra (committee member)

Creator Email lalcanta@usc.edu,ljdickerman@yahoo.com

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