Lucas County was named recently as one of a select group of Stepping Up Innovator counties in the United States for its expertise in reducing the prevalence of individuals suffering from mental illness in its jail and collecting baseline data on the number of people in its jail who have mental illnesses.
The initiative was launched in May 2015 by the National Association of Counties. The Council of State Governments Justice Center and the American Psychiatric Association Foundation to mobilize local, state and national leaders to achieve a measurable reduction in the number of people in jail who have mental illnesses.
Since that time, more than 475 counties in 43 states representing 45 percent of the U.S. population, have committed to the goal.
“We are proud Lucas County is the second county in the state of Ohio to achieve Stepping Up Innovator County status in recognition of our efforts in establishing baseline data to track the number of people with serious mental illness in jail,” Commissioner Gary Byers said. “By implementing cutting edge strategies that are part of the Stepping Up initiative, Lucas County is taking important steps to reduce incarceration rates among those with mental illness.”
Since joining the initiative in 2016, the county has taken significant steps toward reducing the number of people in jail who have mental illnesses, including:
•Establishing a Behavioral Health Criminal Justice Coordinator position to lead the efforts and improve outcomes for constituents who find themselves within the intersection of the behavioral health and criminal justice systems.
•Implementing an evidence-based mental health screening in the Lucas County Jail.
•Developing a Crisis Access Recovery Engagement (CARE) Center, housed at Zepf Center, which serves as an alternative to jail for individuals suffering from mental illness and/or substance use disorders.
•Expanding access to mental health and/or substance use disorder services for individuals who are incarcerated in the county jail, including reentry services, clinical service support, group therapies and medication management.
Lucas County is now part of a select group chosen as Innovator Counties for implementing Stepping Up’s suggested three-step approach to collect and analyze timely data on the prevalence of people in their jails who have serious mental illnesses (SMI).
These steps include establishing a shared SMI definition for their efforts across criminal justice and behavioral health systems, ensuring everyone booked into jail is screened for mental illnesses and regular reporting on this population.
“Through our collaboration with our partners, the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board and the Zepf Center, we are making changes and adopting innovative ways to increase connections to community-based treatment for people with mental illness. This is a key step in our comprehensive plan to overhaul responses to people with mental illness who are cycling through the criminal justice system,” Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak said.
Lucas County will help other counties improve their data collection and reduction in those suffering from mental illness in the jail efforts by participating in training sessions, taking part in presentations, sharing information and its experiences through the Stepping Up network.
“As an Innovator County, we are being recognized for our leadership in understanding the prevalence of people with mental illness coming into our jail. Our partnership with the Criminal Justice Coordinating System to implement cross-system data has been critical to understand what is happening in our jails and to begin an actual reduction in the number of people in jails who are suffering from mental illness,” Commissioner Pete Gerken explained.
