Family Member Arrested
Below is information on how to help a loved one who has been arrested or dealing with the legal system. The main takeaway from these resources is to be persistent. Reminder: NAMI Virginia does not offer legal advice or lawyer referrals.
- The National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems, Inc and the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law are designed to deal with the rights of individuals involved with the criminal justice system.
- DisAbility Law Center of Virginia is Virginia’s state protection and advocacy organization, and independent state agency. This organizations specifically address the needs of incarcerated individuals, whether they are in the correctional system, or hospitalized in a forensic ward.
- 7 steps you can take to get help for your loved one in jail.
- Fact Sheet on the Criminal Justice System for terms, procedures, and information.
- Community Services Boards (CSB) in Virginia. Some CSB’s have a jail liaison on staff whose job it is to coordinate some kind of mental health services for the person who is in jail who has a mental health problem. Try to contact the CSB to see if there is a liaison working with the jail who can connect with the family member. Or try to contact your family member to let him/her know that there may be a jail liaison to help with accessing services while the person is in jail.
- Tips for working with public defenders
- 3 Part Series on Supporting the Recovery of Justice-Involved Consumers – published by The STAR Center – one of the five National Technical Assistance Centers funded by SAMHSA to support mental health systems transformation: