INDIANAPOLIS — The Assessment and Intervention Center (AIC), a flagship mental health and addiction treatment center, will be the first facility to open at the new Community Justice Campus being constructed on the City’s southeast side. The AIC is expected to open fall of 2020, ahead of the 2022 scheduled openings of the new jail and courthouse facilities.
The AIC will be the first facility of its kind in the state of Indiana. It will create a channel to divert non-violent, low-level offenders who are suffering from addiction and mental illness from jail, instead connecting them with treatment and wraparound services. This shift in Marion County’s criminal justice system is focused on addressing root causes of crime and violence, reducing recidivism, and decreasing the resources being spent on jailing.
The AIC will address mental health and substance abuse treatment needs, both pre-arrest and post-arrest. It will also accommodate short-term detoxification and behavioral health treatment, provide access to social services, referrals to longer-term treatment plans, and direct engagement with wraparound care service providers.
“We cannot jail illness and addiction or rely on prisons as health care centers. As we work to shape a system that prioritizes people over prisoners, the AIC will provide a pathway from criminal justice involvement to treatment and social services,” said Mayor Hogsett. “Together on this site, we’re building a modern justice campus for our entire community — one that repurposes a formerly industrial site and revitalizes a long-underserved neighborhood, all while keeping those who don’t belong in jail, out.”
Mayor Hogsett made the announcement at the site of the future Community Justice Campus in the Twin Aire neighborhood, where construction of the AIC is well underway. He was joined by Indiana Executive Director of Drug Prevention, Treatment, and Enforcement Jim McClelland, President & CEO of Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County Matt Gutwein, members of the City-County Council and Twin Aire neighborhood leaders.
Between 30-40 percent of Marion County Jail inmates have been diagnosed with mental illness, and 75-85 percent of inmates suffer from some form of addiction.
“Indiana is facing an addiction crisis, and our jails and courthouses are often ground zero,” said Indiana Executive Director of Drug Prevention, Treatment, and Enforcement Jim McClelland. “We have to combat this issue on all fronts, and I applaud the City of Indianapolis for its leadership to help identify those suffering and connect them with the treatment they need.”
In addition to the Community Justice Campus, the remediated 140-acre site on the southeast side will feature significant public and private investment, further spurring the area’s transformation.The campus is in the Twin Aire neighborhood, southeast of downtown where the former Citizens Energy Coke Plant once stood. Once complete, it will house the Assessment and Intervention Center, Jail, Courthouse, and Sheriff’s Office. For more information visit IndyCJC.com.
