This month, the 400th county passed a resolution to join Stepping Up: A National Initiative to Reduce the Number of People with Mental Illnesses in Jails. Stepping Up counties now represent more than 130 million people – 40 percent of the U.S. population – across 43 states! A map of Stepping Up counties is available here.
Resources and Examples to Help County Stepping Up Efforts
As counties continue their work to reduce the number of people with mental illnesses in their jail, NACo encourages county leaders to access the Stepping Up resources below to assist those efforts:
- The “Six Questions Webinar Series” on the Stepping Up Toolkit includes presentations and discussions from subject-matter experts and county leaders on how they are implementing innovative programs and policies.
- NACo case studies provide snapshots of county innovations at the intersection of mental health and justice across the country.
- NACo hosts quarterly Stepping Up network calls for rural, mid-size and large/urban counties that have passed resolutions to join the initiative. Contact Nastassia Walsh, nwalsh@naco.org, to join these calls.
Join the Initiative!
It’s not too late for counties to join Stepping Up! Interested counties can download a template resolution here. Once the resolution is passed, simply email a signed copy to nwalsh@naco.org to be included on the Stepping Up map and list of participants and to access all of the resources to help with your local efforts.
Questions about Stepping Up? Contact Nastassia Walsh, NACo Program Manager, at nwalsh@naco.org or 202.942.4289.
Stepping Up is a national initiative to reduce the number of people with mental illnesses in jails, and the result of a partnership between NACo, the Council of State Governments Justice Center and the American Psychiatric Association Foundation. For more information, visit www.stepuptogether.org.
