The following is a news release from the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office:

Lubbock County was named [Thursday] as one of a select group of Stepping Up Innovator Counties in the United States, and the first in Texas, for its expertise in collecting baseline data on the number of people in its jail who have mental illnesses.

The Stepping Up initiative was launched in May 2015 by The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, the National Association of Counties (NACo), and the American Psychiatric Association Foundation (APA Foundation) to mobilize local, state, and national leaders to achieve a measurable reduction in the number of people in jail who have mental illnesses.

Since that time, more than 450 counties, including Lubbock County, in 43 states, representing 40 percent of the U.S. population, have committed to the Stepping Up goal.

Lubbock County joined Stepping Up in 2016 and has taken significant steps toward reducing the number of people in its jail who have mental illnesses, such as establishing a collaboration of community leaders and stakeholders, creating a shared definition a serious mental illness, providing validated mental health screenings, and tracking baseline data. Additionally, Lubbock County was awarded a federal grant through the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) for the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP) which provides funding, framework, and assistance toward meeting the goals of the Stepping Up Initiative.

Lubbock County was chosen as one of a small group of Innovator Counties who are using the Stepping Up suggested three-step approach to collect and analyze timely data on the prevalence of people in their jails who have serious mental illnesses (SMI). These steps include establishing a shared SMI definition for their Stepping Up efforts across criminal justice and behavioral health systems, ensuring everyone booked into jail is screened for mental illnesses, and regular reporting on this population.

As an Innovator County, Lubbock will help other counties improve their data collection efforts by participating in training sessions, taking part in presentations, sharing information and its experiences through the Stepping Up website, and more. 

Innovator Counties range in size and geographic location, from rural Pacific County, WA, which has a population of 22,000, to urban Miami-Dade County, FL, with a population of 2.6 million. To see a list of all Innovator Counties and find out more about Stepping Up, visit stepuptogether.org. 

ABOUT THE STEPPING UP INITIATIVE
Stepping Up is a national initiative to reduce the number of people with mental illnesses in jails. The initiative-a collaboration between The Council of State Governments Justice Center, the National Association of Counties and the American Psychiatric Association Foundation-asks communities to come together to develop an action plan that can be used to achieve measurable impact in local criminal justice systems of all sizes across the country. For more information visit
https://stepuptogether.org

(News release from the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office)