Nevada County is participating in a National initiative called Stepping Up, aimed at addressing the issue of mental illness in jail.

Stepping Up is a National initiative to reduce the number of people with mental illnesses in jail, according to its website. Each year, there are an estimated 2 million people with serious mental illnesses admitted to jails across the nation. That’s equivalent to the populations of Vermont and New Hampshire combined. Almost three-fourths of these adults also have drug and alcohol use problems. Once incarcerated, individuals with mental illnesses tend to stay longer in jail and upon release are at a higher risk of returning to incarceration than those without these illnesses.

The human toll of this problem—and its cost to taxpayers—is staggering. Jails spend two to three times more money on adults with mental illnesses that require intervention than on those without those needs, yet often do not see improvements to public safety or these individuals’ health.

Despite important efforts already underway in many counties, there is an urgent need to address this national crisis using a common, data-driven process that encourages innovation and brings good work to scale. The time is now to launch a nationwide initiative to provide coordinated support to counties to help people living with mental illnesses stay out of jail and on a path to recovery.

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