May 10, 2019 — People who suffer from mental illness often have encounters with law enforcement that do not end well. A nationwide initiative called Stepping Up aims to support mental health clients so they don’t get to the point where they are getting in trouble and going to jail and suffering more trauma.
Recent crisis intervention training for law enforcement to de-escalate encounters with mental health clients was part of that initiative. And this week, the county and the national alliance of mental illness, or NAMI, put on public forums to provide education and outreach opportunities to anyone who’s interested.
We’ll hear from local and state advocates for mental health about what needs to be done, and what there is to be optimistic about.