Mental Health Awareness: Reducing number of adults with mental illness in jails

A year ago, the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors signed a resolution to participate in the Stepping Up initiative. The initiative, signed by two hundred fifty counties, has one lofty goal: reduce the number of adults with mental illness in the criminal justice system.

What has changed in the last year?

Stepping Up is gaining momentum. Last week policymakers, jail administrators, mental health advocates, and clinicians from 190 counties, including El Dorado County, attended a national Stepping Up Summit in Washington, DC. Speakers shared their desire to change the incarceration system and help inmates with mental health issues get the treatment and support they need.

What can our community change?

We have the Board of Supervisors commitment, but need a countywide plan to reduce the criminalization of mental illness. Here are suggestions from Stepping Up and my solutions to implement them:

Suggestion # 1: Commitment from our area’s leadership.
Possible Solution: The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors, jail staff, law enforcement, and other stakeholders need to create and implement an action plan to reduce the incarcerations of the mental ill.

Suggestion #2: More transparency around criminal justice statistics and the mentally ill. For example, how many inmates have a mental illness diagnosis in the Placerville and South Lake Tahoe jails? How many received hospital care for a mental health condition while incarcerated? What approaches are used to assess mental illness when booking an inmate? Possible Solution: Share information online and in the County’s monthly Health and Human Services report at the Mental Health Commission. El Dorado County introduced a new data-driven website called welldorado.org which is an ideal platform to share this information.

Suggestion #3: Create diverse partnerships to bring policy changes and design systematic responses. Possible Solution: The South Lake Tahoe Mental Health Cooperative is an effective group of mental health providers, advocates, and clinicians. I would like to see more representatives from the jail at these monthly meetings and the County’s Mental Health Commission.

Suggestion #4: Train more jail administrators in mental health crisis and compassion. Possible Solution: Many first responders have mental health first aid and crisis intervention training. Jail administrators need similar training.

Suggestion #5: Fund policy and programs that connect people to the appropriate criminal justice and behavioral health interventions.Possible Solution: As El Dorado County updates their policies, have a diverse team of mental health stakeholders, including jail administrators, review and close potential gaps in services. For example, currently inmates have difficulty obtaining services within 60 days of being released.

Suggestion #6 - Track progress of inmates with mental illness. Possible Solution: Track the volume of individuals incarcerated with mental illness. Look for the effectiveness of alternative programs and rates of recidivism. Record medication changes, effectiveness, and compliance.

I belong to the National Alliance for Mental Illness and many of our members have loved ones who suffer from mental illness and have been incarcerated for a wrongdoing related to their untreated condition. Unfortunately, it is not just NAMI families who pay the price.

May is National Mental Health Awareness Month. Stepping Up is multi-year initiative of the Council of State Governments, the National Association of Counties - and stakeholders like NAMI - to reduce the number of people with mental illness in jails. For more information and additional resources, go to stepuptogether.org.