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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

Leaders of local criminal justice initiatives often need to facilitate sensitive conversations when evidence points to disparities in the system. Disparate outcomes can take many different forms, such as longer jail stays for people with serious mental illnesses or disproportionate numbers of people of color being booked into jail. Elevating these topics as priorities and guiding system stakeholders toward meaningful action may feel uncomfortable, challenging, and stressful for the people driving the conversation. During this webinar, a panel of county justice system directors will share their approach for championing change when systemic disparities demand a new path forward. Read More

In Part 2 of the webinar series with the Data-Driven Justice Initiative, this webinar featured counties that have implemented policies and practices that identify frequent utilizers of these systems and use this information to connect people with appropriate treatment and services. Read More

The first in a two-part webinar series with Data-Driven Justice, this webinar focused on the collection, management and sharing of data and addressed primary challenges counties often face in these efforts. Subject matter experts discussed how they implemented processes to collect, share, integrate and analyze data on people involved in multiple county systems. Read More

Jails across the country are struggling with too many people with mental illnesses in their jails. In this workshop, hear from county leaders about their policies, practices and programs to keep people with mental illnesses out of jails, provide appropriate care to those who are in jails and better connect them to community-based treatment and services after release. Read More

Counties across the country have committed to creating data-driven, systems-level plans to reduce the number of people with mental illnesses in their jails. Individuals with mental illnesses and their family members should play a key role in your planning efforts. They can be strong allies in building goodwill with the broader community, getting positive media attention for your efforts and advising on strategies that work for advancing mental health recovery. These individuals also can assist in training law enforcement in programs like Crisis Intervention Teams, providing peer support to individuals and families in crisis and identifying the impact your Stepping Up work is having. On this webinar, national experts and county officials describe strategies for meaningfully including people with mental illnesses and their families in your Stepping Up efforts. Read More

More than 420 counties have joined the national Stepping Up initiative to reduce the number of people with mental illnesses in their jails. Although counties have made progress toward addressing this issue, many still struggle with how to effectively communicate about their work with the public and the media. During this webinar, county leaders earn from national experts and their peers about strategies for engaging the public and media around Stepping Up efforts, including key messaging points and how to engage individuals with mental illnesses and their families to gain support for these efforts. Participants also receive an update about the national Stepping Up Day of Action on May 16 and how to get involved in hosting their own local events. Read More

This webinar provided counties with strategies for how they can track their progress on addressing the four key measures in their communities Read More