Incarcerated individuals are disproportionately afflicted by mental illness, and Lancaster County is stepping up to do something about it.
Announced earlier this month, The Lancaster County Board is partnering with local behavioral health service provider Region V Systems to implement the Stepping Up Initiative, a national initiative to reduce the number of people with mental illnesses who are incarcerated in county jails.
The Lancaster County Department of Corrections has grappled with overcrowding issues throughout 2023, resulting to house some inmates in Washington County. The operational capacity for the Lancaster Co. jail is 665.
“This morning, we had approximately 632 in our facility, and housing another 38 in other areas,” said Lancaster County Department of Corrections Director Brad Johnson on Tuesday’s episode of the Dan Parsons Show, “Each of those individuals when they first come through, we do a brief mental health survey to get a feel for where they are on the mental health scale. Approximately 60% of them are identified as folks who may potentially have some type of mental illness.”
Region V Systems’ Project Coordinator will assist the Lancaster County Department of Corrections and Lancaster County Community Corrections with developing comprehensive, locally based policies, practices, and programs to help reduce the number of individuals with a serious mental illness housed at the Lancaster County Jail by focusing on one or more key measures:
- Jail bookings
- Jail length of stay
- Connections to treatment after release
- Recidivism
“The goal is to preferably divert people out of the system, before they even come into custody. Or secondly, to find resources and support when they do get released from our custody so that they’re more successful and we can work on trying to reduce that recidivism rate,” said Johnson.
The Stepping Up Initiative is one component of the County’s plan to enhance diversion programs and alternatives to incarceration, ultimately decreasing the jail population and reducing recidivism.
“These are complicated cases, with folks who are disenfranchised in a lot of ways. There isn’t one silver bullet to this problem,” said Johnson, “But a reoccurring theme is not having their basic needs met in many cases. Anyway we can improve that spectrum within their lives, is a strong step in the right direction.”
Other current and upcoming components in the County’s commitment to and investment in criminal justice reform include:
- Receiving technical assistance and support from Advancing Pretrial Policy and Research (APPR) to implement a range of pretrial improvements at Community Corrections.
- Engaging a consultant to conduct criminal justice system and jail assessments which will provide recommendations and tools that can be implemented to better manage the jail capacity without sacrificing public safety and will provide recommendations for facility improvement that will provide for long-term capacity needs and provide appropriate housing for the changing risks and needs of the jail population.
- Adding a new Jail Administrator position to develop and oversee reentry programs and services with an emphasis on reducing tendencies of reoffending.
To learn more about The Stepping Up Initiative, go to www.StepUpTogether.org.