The National Stepping Up
Initiative was launched in May 2015 to elevate the crisis of
too many people with mental illnesses in jails and to provide
counties with tools and resources to create sustainable and
data-driven plans to address this challenge. In the four years
since the launch, more than 475 counties have passed a resolution
or proclamation committing to act on this issue.
For 2019, the initiative is asking counties to “Step Up” their
efforts. Stepping Up counties have shown great progress over the
past four years with their work to reduce the number of people in
their jails who have mental illnesses. As part of this push, the
Stepping Up partners are asking counties to:
