Our Mission

"The mission of David's Hope is to promote and secure treatment for those with mental health disorders and addictions through increasing collaboration between our mental health and criminal justice systems."

David's Hope is an education and advocacy agency designed to provide people living with mental illness, and all those involved in their care, the skills and knowledge needed to navigate the behavioral health and criminal justice systems. David’s Hope teaches people how to advocate for themselves and others by empowering them with information, training, resources, and mentoring. Through education and mentoring we hope to create understanding in the community of the issues facing those living with mental illness involved in the criminal justice system.

Restored To Hope

The majority of all prisoners will return to our communities. David's Hope is seeking to restore hope to incarcerated individuals living with mental illness and their families. Our agency also serves ex-offenders by offering them the tools they need to rebuild hope for themselves and for those whose lives they touch.

We invite individuals into our program who are in need of a helping hand which will enable them to be restored to a life which will be meaningful. Our program provides support, education and guidance as we encourage participants to face their brokenness and find God's sustaining power.

With your help, our goal is to reach behind the prison walls and bring an end to the use of solitary confinement for all those living with a serious mental illness. As we collaborate and build partnerships in the community, we are working to enlist volunteers who see the value in restoring hope to those who are or have been behind bars. We know restoring hope is a big order, however, we believe it can be done by touching one life at a time. David's Hope seeks to enlist people from all faiths and religious backgrounds to become a link in the lifeline which will bring healing and restoration to the most broken.

Criminal Justice Setting

Within the criminal justice system we are working to increase the recognition of mental illness as an organic brain disease which affects behavior. We seek to secure mental health treatment rather than incarceration for those who have been responsible for breaking our criminal codes due to untreated symptoms of their mental illness. In conjunction with this effort, David's Hope is working to increase our legal systems use of court monitored mental health treatment. We must hold our public mental health care providers accountable for outcomes. By demanding transparency and accountability from our mental health and criminal justice systems, we know our cities will remain safer. As we decrease the effects of untreated mental illness in our nation, we will bring common sense solutions to problems such as substance abuse and homelessness. It is treatment not incarceration, that will equip those who suffer with mental illness to maintain wellness for themselves and our communities.

We work to provide detailed input to probation and parole departments regarding the safety of those with mental health issues. David's Hope is an active member of the Arizona Mental Health and Criminal Justice Coalition. The coalition's mission is to promote a full range of opportunities, from diversion to re-entry, for those with mental illness engaged in our criminal justice system. The coalition's vision is, prevention, diversion, and reintegration.

Through public consensus David's Hope provides feedback to behavioral health providers, as to effective policies which will reduce crimes that are occurring as a result of improperly treated mental illness. We will work diligently to identify lapses in care to those within the justice system who are suffering from mental illness and promote system improvements which will prevent recidivism

Bringing Evidence Based Practices to Arizona

David's Hope is working to bring much needed reforms to Arizona's Criminal Justice System. We currently are in the process of creating a statewide coalition which will promote the use of best practices in Arizona's mental health and criminal justice systems. We invite both individuals and organizations to become a part of our formal network. We will be addressing such issues as safety and health care in our jails and prisons, ending the practice of placing the mentally ill in solitary confinement, reforming mandatory sentencing laws and limiting the practice of sentencing juveniles in the adult system. Rehabilitation and education of offenders during both incarceration and re-entry is the key which will make our communities safer and strengthen families. Our coalition seeks to be inclusive of a diverse range of reform issues and to be a catalyst which will reduce the numbers we incarcerate, while providing better outcomes through treatment and diversion opportunities. Incarceration can not cure or alleviate the effects of mental health and substance use disorders but treatment can. Give us a call and join hands with us as we bring common sense reforms to Arizona's costly and brutal criminal justice system.

Contact Us

Please call or email David's Hope with any questions or for more information:

Email Address:
info@davidshopeaz.org

David's Hope Line:
602-774-4382

David's Hope leads the Arizona Mental Health and Criminal Justice Coalition and invites you to become a partner of the coalition. We currently hold monthly work groups focused on Corrections, Reentry and Juvenile Justice. Our partners at the Arizona Justice Alliance also oversee work groups focused on Crisis and Diversion. Our coalition members are invited to participate at any of these junctures where mental health and criminal justice intersect. Please call for meeting times/locations. Conference call in is available for many of our work groups. We invite you to join with us as we work to protect human rights for those with mental disabilities in our criminal justice system.