AAC F A M I L Y & F R I E N D S
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About NACo – The Voice of America’s Counties
National Association of Counties (NACo) is the only national organization that represents county governments in the U.S. NACo provides essential services to the nation’s 3,068 coun- ties. NACo advances issues with a unified voice before the federal government, improves the public’s understanding of county government, assists counties in finding and sharing inno- vative solutions through education and research and provides value-added services to save counties and taxpayers money.
www.naco.org
Stepping Up Summit focuses on mental health, jails By Charlie Ban Susan Pamerleau wasn’t breaking new ground, but she is digging deeper. When she took over as Bexar County, Texas’ sheriff al- most four years ago, her already-full agenda became busier when she learned the extent of the jail population with mental illness.
Tose inmates counted for 22 percent, their conditions were going untreated and typically contributed to longer stays. “Frankly when I became the sheriff… I really didn’t rec-
ognize the issue about mental illness,” she told attendees at the National Stepping Up Summit April 17–19 in Wash- ington, D.C. “Tere were 450 people (with mental illness) who had been in and out of our jail six times. “Tese are the kind of things that we as leaders need to bring to the forefront and to our public to let them know it is an issue and there are better ways of dealing with mental illness in our communities, as opposed to just putting them in jail.” Tat is indeed the kind of thing that county leaders have been pushing over the past year, an effort that culminated in the three-day summit, sponsored by NACo, the Ameri- can Psychiatric Association Foundation and the Council of State Governments Justice Center. Teams from 50 coun- ties, out of more than 200 applicants, heard from experts in mental health services, criminal justice and administration on the local, state and federal levels, plus participants in the mental health system and their families. Stepping Up is part of an overall effort to encourage counties to divert jail inmates with mental illness to settings where inmates’ underlying conditions can be addressed. Tat direction has stuck with Pamerleau and she has
spread the word. She offered Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) a chance to meet the largest mental health provider in the country — the Los Angeles County Jail. “Tat made a big impression on me because I did not real-
ize our criminal justice system had become the provider, by default, of mental health services to the extent it does,” he said. “It brought the point home to me like nothing else.” NACo President Sallie Clark put the challenge in per-
spective for attendees “We’re not professionals in mental health issues,” she said.
COUNTY LINES, SPRING 2016
“We’re not professionals, necessarily, in law enforcement. “For us, we want to make sure that we’re asking the right questions,” in framing the problem correctly and providing support for change where necessary. “It’s hard to convince others it’s the right thing to do,” she said.
L.A. County District Attorney Jackie Lacey knows that. “It hasn’t been an easy sell,” she said. As a district attorney,
“You wake up every morning and you read the headlines and you pray the most recent person who was on proba- tion who killed someone doesn’t have your name attached to them. Tat’s your fear,” she said. “Te public has little tolerance for district attorneys who make mistakes, and you make a mistake by taking a risk.” Lacey’s approach was to sell jail diversion to community
groups first to generate public support for the new direc- tion, which was funded by the Board of Supervisors in 2015 to the tune of $120 million to create the Office of Diversion and Reentry. “I didn’t have a plan,” she said of the county’s changes. “I just knew what we were doing was wrong.” University of Connecticut professor Robert Trestman
stressed communication, consistency, confidentiality and quality assurance in the diversion process. “Communication is where everything breaks down,”
he said. “We think we’re doing it, but in truth …when you’re talking about everything from the paperwork, what’s written on the minimus, what guidance might have been provided and doesn’t get printed, what about the judicial marshals who are transporting people from the jail to the facility. Is there any kind of formal way that information is being documented and effectively being communicated, and then on and on from one shift to another?” Confidentiality is also crucial to acceptance and participation. “It doesn’t mean you need a suite with closed walls, but
you do need sound confidentiality,” Trestman said of intake processes. “People need to feel comfortable enough to share intimate information with someone they just met while they’re distressed.” Pete Earley shared his bipolar son’s experience with the
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