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A groundbreaking, $3.6 million study acknowledging that jails in the United States are de facto mental institutions—which also studies implementation strategies that can reduce jail populations across the country—won the Mission Award from the Society for Implementation Research Collaboration (SIRC), a national organization that encourages collaborations by academics, scientists, and… Read More

The Yolo County Board of Supervisors will approve a resolution proclaiming May 2022 as Mental Health Awareness Month at its meeting on May 24. Promoting awareness, recognition, and intervention of mental illness proves critical. To meet the mental health needs in our community, the Yolo County Health & Human Services… Read More

Lucas County has received a new status for its work regarding mental health in jails. Up to 25% of the people in jail have been diagnosed with serious mental health problems, according to Gary Byers, president of the Lucas County Board of Commissioners. “It makes sense as a community to… Read More

Alachua County has been selected as one of Stepping Up’s growing cohort of Innovator Counties – counties that are successfully using the Stepping Up suggested three-step approach to collect and analyze timely data on the prevalence of people who have mental illnesses in jails. Alachua County will be sharing its… Read More

Today, March 1, marks the official launch of a new dashboard that highlights data gathered from Johnson County Mental Health Center and the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office to track the effectiveness of providing mental health services to incarcerated individuals. The goal is to reduce the prevalence of mental illness within… Read More

On JoCo on the Go, episode #127, hear about a new Johnson County program that is providing early support to incarcerated individuals with mental health concerns, so when they reenter the community they’re doing so with the tools they need to be successful. The Reentry Project offers screening and resources… Read More

Across the country, county criminal justice, behavioral health, and social service system leaders are grappling with reducing the number of people with serious mental illness (SMI) in criminal justice systems, including county jails, often by using “front-end” strategies. Counties frequently struggle with using data to gauge the impact of these… Read More

Among the more than 540 counties that have joined the Stepping Up initiative, Innovator counties lead the nation in successfully collecting and applying data to inform decision-making. This brief covers how Innovators are bringing about meaningful change in the movement to reduce the number of people with behavioral health needs… Read More

Counties across the country have made progress addressing the Stepping Up Four Key Measures. Yet counties often struggle with Key Measure 3: post-release connections to care for people who have a serious mental illness (SMI). This measure necessarily involves a handoff from the county jail system to the community-based behavioral… Read More