More than 40% of individuals in jails and prisons nationwide have been assessed with a mental health diagnosis, which can lead to major challenges for correctional agencies and a decline in the health of the individuals incarcerated. Stepping Up is a national initiative focused on reducing overincarceration of people with mental illnesses. It was initiated in 2015 when a coalition formed to discuss the matter and possible solutions. This was followed by a national conference to highlight the issue in 2016, and the release of a framework, resources and tools for counties to apply in their jurisdictions. By 2019, more than 500 counties had applied these tools—all in an effort to better manage individuals with mental health and substance use disorders who had been incarcerated.
Stepping Up provides counties with a framework that allows each community to select the right evidence-based policies and practices for them, based on their data and unique local circumstances. Recently, the Stepping Up coalition—The Council of State Governments Justice Center, the National Association of Counties, and the American Psychiatric Association Foundation—updated its primary tool kit, “Reducing the Number of People with Mental Illnesses in Jail: Six Questions County Leaders Need to Ask”—which was originally created in 2017.
One of the original challenges that spurred Stepping Up remains, according to the coalition partners: jails across the country are still serving as de facto mental health care facilities, and support for individuals inside jails or in the community upon release, are not aligned well.
The six questions include:
- Is our leadership committed?
- Do we conduct timely screening and assessments?
- Do we have baseline data?
- Have we conducted a comprehensive process analysis and inventory of services?
- Have we prioritized policy, practice, and funding improvements?
- Do we track progress?
This updated Six Questions guideline includes “tips from the field” that offer real world tactics applied in local jurisdictions to support the initiative to divert individuals with mental health and substance use disorders to supportive services that can reduce institutional crowding and help individuals stabilize their lives in the community.
GEO Reentry programs, including day reporting programs or reentry service centers, have increasingly gotten involved in helping community corrections agencies identify community resources for mental health and substance use disorders, and through case management services, referring individuals to these types of services.
To review or download a copy of “Reducing the Number of People with Mental Illnesses in Jail: Six Questions County Leaders Need to Ask,” Click Here.