County News Hot Topics – Mental Health and Criminal Justice Reform

The National Association of Counties (NACo) announces the launch of the Transforming Human Services Initiative, a new effort to help counties modernize benefits administration, integrate service delivery systems and strengthen county capacity to fulfill our responsibility as America’s safety net for children and families. 

Rep. Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.): “Right now, it is too difficult to access providers … and get mental health care in a facility that is the right size and also the appropriate acuity level to meet patients’ needs.”

Child welfare experts outlined current priorities at the federal level, including better supporting foster care youth who age out of the system and recruiting more foster parents, at NACo’s Human Services and Education Policy Steering Committee meeting.