Archive

Across the country, many jurisdictions find that some of the people who frequently encounter criminal justice, behavioral health, and social service systems are experiencing behavioral health crises and require different levels and intensity of services. Featuring three Stepping Up Innovator Counties that are also MacArthur Foundation Safety and Justice Challenge sites, this series provides information on how to effectively serve and increase engagement with people who frequently cycle in and out of jails, emergency departments, homeless shelters, and other community-based settings. This first session provides an overview of how the sites identified these populations and explores their continuum of care for behavioral health crisis services. Read More

The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) and The Council of State Governments Justice Center (CSG Justice Center) announce the opening of the Kansas Stepping Up Technical Assistance Center (TA Center) to help counties reduce the prevalence of people with serious mental illness in jails. The TA Center—only the second of its kind in the nation—will offer technical assistance tailored specifically to Kansas counties to support policies and programs improving outcomes for people with mental illnesses and co-occurring substance use disorders in jails. Reinforced by support from the national Stepping Up initiative, this effort will be directly informed by local needs and guided by a leadership team of state and local representatives. This webinar introduced the TA Center and provided an overview of resources available to counties. The webinar also discussed how counties can sign up to be part of the TA Center and how they can get started on or advance the work of Stepping Up in their counties with support from the TA Center. Read More

Jails across the U.S. are seeing reductions in their populations since the pandemic struck, yet local officials say the prevalence of mental illness in their facilities remains stubbornly high. Our latest video features officials from Douglas County, KS and San Luis Obispo, CA—both recognized as Innovator Counties in the Stepping Up Initiative—and helps us uncover why people with mental illnesses are remaining in or returning to jail at higher rates than other populations and how to change that. Read More

Since its launch in 2015, more than 500 counties across 43 states have joined the Stepping Up initiative and worked to reduce the prevalence of mental illness in their jails. Stepping Up partners recently announced a new call to action—Set, Measure, Achieve—to support counties in setting targets to reduce the number of people with serious mental illnesses in their jails, measuring progress toward meeting these targets, and achieving results. As part of the new call to action, this webinar will explain how counties can obtain data to establish baselines for Stepping Up’s four key measures and set targets for reducing indicators of serious mental illness in jails. A representative from a county sheriff’s office will discuss the role of sheriffs in facilitating access to data on serious mental illness in jails. Speakers will also address specific challenges that can complicate counties’ efforts to identify accurate baseline data. IT staff from county sheriffs’ offices and county jails are encouraged to attend this webinar. Read More

Set, Measure, Achieve is a new national call to action for Stepping Up counties to establish and reach measurable goals that demonstrate reduced prevalence of mental illness in jails. Join us for a special virtual event on September 30, to commemorate five years of Stepping Up and learn more about how counties can participate in Set, Measure, Achieve. Read More

As telehealth expands, communities across the country are looking for information on how best to facilitate connections to care for people with serious mental illnesses being discharged from jail. During COVID-19, telehealth or telemedicine has become an essential practice for connecting people with mental illnesses from jails to psychiatric treatment and other services. For more information, please watch our recent webinar hosted by the Stepping Up partners on increasing connections to care with telehealth and other strategies. Read More

COVID-19 is pushing communities to rethink their approach jails. For many, telehealth or telemedicine has become an essential practice for connecting people with mental illnesses from jails to treatment. Read More

The Stepping Up initiative encourages counties to track data along Four Key Measures, including connecting people who have serious mental illness (SMI) to treatment and other services after discharge from jail. Communities across the country are looking for information on how to best facilitate connection to care for individuals with SMI. With the current expansion of telehealth, there is a need to discuss best approaches, other ways to connect to care, and to share tips and strategies from counties. Join the Stepping Up partners for a webinar focused on one this key measure: Increase Connection to Care. Read More

The Stepping Up initiative encourages counties to reduce the number of people with mental illness in county jail systems. Counties in California are increasingly focusing their efforts on addressing mental illness in the criminal justice system, but one of the barriers to making progress in this work is accurately identifying who has mental illness in jail systems and collecting data on this population. This webinar will provide an overview of the recommended three-step approach for identifying mental illness in jails that is required to be a Stepping Up Innovator. The webinar will feature representatives from California’s two recognized Innovator Sites, Calaveras County and San Luis Obispo County, who will discuss their screening, assessment, and data collection processes. There will also be time for questions and answers on the webinar. Read More