The National Stepping Up Initiative is hosting a National Day of
Action On May 16. Counties are encouraged to hold an event or
participate in local activities to share with constituents the
progress they have made toward reducing the number of people who
have mental illnesses in their jails. The Goal is to raise public
awareness and understanding of this important issue and emphasize
the commitment to creating data-driven, systems-level changes to
policy and practice to achieve their Stepping Up goals.
The Stepping Up Initiative was launched in May 2015 to address
the prevalence of people who have mental illnesses in jails and
provide counties with resources to create sustainable,
data-driven plans to impact this crisis. Since Stepping Up’s
launch, more than 420 counties have passed a resolution or
proclamation committing to acting on this issue. More details and
a toolkit to help plan for a Day of Action are available at
StepUpTogether.org.
