Policy Development/Adoption

CSG Justice Center staff presented on Stepping Up Pennsylvania and Dauphin?County data to the statewide mental health administrators at the Pennsylvania Mental Health Administrators Conference.

CSG Justice Center staff held a call with staff and members?from the American Jail Association to discuss collaboration efforts with the Stepping Up Initiative, including a?Stepping Up webinar mini-series for AJA?members and?speaking at AJA?events.

The Stepping Up Day of Action?encouraged counties?to host a local?event or participate in local activities to share with constituents the progress they have made in addressing the prevalence of people with mental illnesses in their jails, raise public awareness and understanding of this important issue and emphasize their commitment to creating data-driven, systems-level changes to policy and practice to reduce the number of people with mental illness in their jail.

The Stepping Up Initiative?launched a national effort?to help counties collect accurate, accessible data on the number of people entering their jails who have mental illnesses. As part of the effort, seven rural and urban "Innovator Counties" have been selected as models for their expertise in accurately identifying these individuals and consistently collecting data on them. The launch began with a press release by the three Stepping Up partners (CSGJC, NACo, and APAF), followed by a series of events, social media messages, and?product releases.?

CSG Justice Center staff facilitated an in-person discussion with Stepping Up national and federal partners and the self-assessment tool's web developer to review of the wireframe of the tool.

CSG Justice Center staff met with Dauphin County stakeholders to discuss thel roll-out of the final report, with a presentation to the county commissioners, community, and criminal justice advisory board.

CSG Justice Center staff presented to the Council on Criminal Justice and Behavioral Health on 2018 Stepping Up activities both on the national level and on the state level.

CSG Justice Center staff held a call with Dauphin County probation to discuss areas for improvements and final recommendations in the report.

CSG Justice Center staff held a call with Rebecca Tsopelas, the Jail Diversion Clinician at the Arlington Police Department (also a Law Enforcement-Mental Health Learning Site) to provide information about the purpose and goals of the Stepping Up Initiative, as well as advice on how Middlesex County, MA can pass a Stepping Up resolution.

CSG Justice Center staff met with Dauphin County stakeholders to present final?data findings that were analyzed using case-level data?to the Criminal?Justice Advisory?Board. Staff also met with behavioral health providers and local stakeholders to understand existing programs and practices better and to develop preliminary policy recommendations.