Research and services partnerships: a partnership to develop a utilization-focused evaluation plan for a criminal justice diversion program.

More than 100,000 offenders in the Texas correctional system have a mental illness, which represents about 19% of the state’s correctional population, including offenders in prison and under community correctional supervision. To reduce these numbers, a leading mental health service provider established the Community Reintegration Program (CRP) to divert misdemeanor offenders with mental illness to community-based treatment. This column describes a collaborative process between the University of Texas at San Antonio and community partners to develop a utilization-focused evaluation plan for the CRP that would benefit all stakeholders. The evaluation used data collected as part of routine clinical work.