OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Last week, Douglas County was named as one of a select group of Stepping Up Innovator Counties for skill in collecting data on the number of people incarcerated with mental illnesses.
The Stepping Up initiative was launched in May 2015 to mobilize local, state and national leaders with a goal to reduce mental illness in jails.
Douglas County joined Stepping Up in 2015. Since then, significant steps have been taken towards reducing the number of people incarcerated in the county with mental illness.
Some of these efforts include the following, according to the Douglas County officials:
- Hiring a director to lead the local implementation of the national Stepping Up Initiative
- Forming a Stepping Up team to develop shared data definitions and collect baseline data
- Providing Crisis Intervention Training for correctional officers and 9-11 operators
- Utilizing a mental health screening tool for individuals booked into jail to identify those who are likely to have a serious mental illness
- Developing a Data and Information Sharing Workgroup focused on reducing barriers identified when sharing information between behavioral health and criminal justice systems
- Developing the Familiar Faces Project designed to focus on individuals who are frequently in jail and who have mental illnesses in order to reduce recidivism and improve customer outcomes
Douglas County will aid other counties in improving their data collection efforts by participating in training sessions, doing presentations, sharing experiences and information through the Stepping Up website and more.
Visit this website for more information on the initiative.
