On June 15 and 16, 2023, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA’s) GAINS Center, operated by Policy Research, hosted a Sequential Intercept Model (SIM) Mapping Workshop in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The workshop was conducted in Spanish. This was the first SIM Mapping Workshop Policy Research conducted in a U.S. territory or in a language other than English. The SIM informs communities by mapping resources, opportunities, and service gaps at key intercept points that people with mental and substance use disorders experience in the criminal legal system. Once a cross-systems map has been generated, local working partners, with the help of facilitators, develop strategic action plans designed to address areas identified for growth. The 21st Century Cures Act identified the SIM as a key method of promoting community-based strategies to reduce the criminal legal system involvement of people with mental and substance use disorders.
When the San Juan SIM Mapping Workshop was first awarded through SAMHSA’s GAINS Center, Policy Research held multiple internal conversations regarding the importance of cultural awareness. While most of the workshop participants would be bilingual, local planning partners were asked at an early preparatory stage if they would prefer the workshop to be conducted in Spanish. They responded affirmatively. This led to a “comfortable and safe” environment, according to Michelle Espinosa-Clark, MPA.
Facilitated by Espinosa-Clark and Magdalena Morales-Aina, LPC-S, the SIM Mapping Workshop was held at the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico in San Juan. Local judges attended the workshop and provided opening remarks, contextualizing the necessity of applying the SIM in Puerto Rico. Prior to the workshop, Policy Research facilitators met for multiple hour-long sessions with local working partners who were “very committed and serious about making sure the right people would be at the table,” said Espinosa-Clark. Attending the workshop was a population with wide and varied representation across the SIM, including administrative officers of the court, representatives of the Puerto Rico Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, those involved in 988 implementation efforts, peer representation providers, and representatives from four Puerto Rican municipalities.
The workshop was split into two parts: SIM Mapping and Strategic Planning. During these sessions, two intercepts were identified as having limited resources. Two intercepts, Initial Detention/Initial Court Hearings (Intercept 2) and Jails/Courts (Intercept 3), concern diversion, which was identified as an area to develop strategy and grow resources. Additionally, limited public legal representation at a pre-trial level was emphasized as an area for growth. This showed the strength of the SIM, which had previously only been deployed in the continental United States.
The lessons learned and opportunities generated by the workshop in San Juan will continue to inform subsequent SIM Mapping Workshops. Policy Research Criminal Legal System Program Area Director Travis Parker, MS, LIMHP, CPC, stated that the San Juan workshop proved uniquely valuable for Policy Research “because we learned new opportunities for how to prepare.” Policy Research has conducted 14 SIM Mapping Workshops to date in 2023, with plans to conduct at least another 20. The team intends to return to Puerto Rico in October to engage in an Island-wide summit during which they will present the SIM to a larger audience. This follow-up work will be supported by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration through the GAINS Center.
Espinosa-Clark identified another positive outcome of the San Juan workshop. “Having materials in Spanish,” she said, “Opens further opportunities to reach out to other Spanish-speaking communities across the country. Without their input, we are missing a voice.”
Related Links
SAMHSA’s GAINS Center Delivers First Sequential Intercept Model Mapping Workshop in Spanish