News Details

County selected to join the Safety and Justice Challenge IMPACT Network focused on reducing over-incarceration of individuals with behavioral health needs

March 28, 2023

SOLANO COUNTY –– County officials are pleased to announce that Solano County has been selected to join the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge: IMPACT Network. The national initiative is aimed at leveraging behavioral health strategies to reduce over-incarceration of individuals with behavioral health needs and eliminating racial inequities that persist in the local criminal justice system. Solano County will be participating starting March 24, 2023 through December 2024. 

“It is vital that people can access the behavioral health treatment and services early and quickly so they can avoid cycling in and out of the jail system,” said Emery Cowan, Behavioral Health Director. “Being part of the IMPACT Network will provide that much-needed support in bringing together justice partners, advocates, and community members to plan and implement equity-driven, community-informed solutions.” 

As one of the selected participants for the second cohort of the SJC IMPACT Network, the County will receive expert technical assistance to advance criminal justice system improvements, strengthen community engagement, and identify equity-based solutions to divert individuals with behavioral health needs away from the justice system and into treatment. One major activity will include a facilitated
Sequential Intercept Mapping (SIM) workshop that will be used as a community strategic planning tool to assess available resources, determine gaps in services, and plan for community change. These activities are best accomplished by a team of stakeholders that cross over multiple systems and continuous engagement in a peer-to-peer learning and collaborate with law enforcement, jail, probation, and court leadership, providers, and persons with lived experience  to develop behavioral health reform and diversion across the criminal justice system. 

The IMPACT Network is devoted to accelerating best and promising practices in behavioral health reform and diversion across the criminal legal system, with an emphasis on local jails, and with a commitment to pursue community-driven race-conscious solutions to reduce harm to populations overrepresented in, or disparately impacted by, the criminal legal system—ؘBlack, Latinx, and Indigenous communities. This initiative is facilitated by Policy Research, Inc. (PRI), national foundations and associations, such as the federal Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Urban Institute, the National Association of Counties (NACO) and others. The SJC Impact Network has been active since 2021. 

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ABOUT SOLANO COUNTY BEHAVIORAL HEALTH
Solano County Behavioral Health assists over 6,000 children, youth and adults each year who are experiencing a psychiatric crisis, addiction, or who have significant mental and emotional disabilities. Visit our website and on FacebookInstagram and Twitter (@SolanoCountyBH)