How to Prioritize in a Sea of Challenges: Guidance for Counties

Counties are often faced with an array of unique funding and capacity pressures. During crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s more important than ever for county officials to prioritize where and how they use their already-limited resources.

The latest brief from Stepping Up’s In Focus series—Prioritizing Policy, Practice, and Funding Improvements—provides county officials with guidance on how to identify the most impactful changes needed to reduce the number of people in jails who have serious mental illnesses.

The brief provides counties with a step-by-step overview of how to prioritize cross-system improvements—from reviewing baseline data, to identifying focus areas for change, to estimating the time, staffing, and funding investments needed to implement these changes.

To see how one county tackled these prioritization strategies, read this Pacific County, Washington case study from the National Association of Counties. For more In Focus briefs and Stepping Up resources, visit our products page.