Alachua County is participating in the national Stepping Up Day of Action to highlight its activities and planning toward achieving the mission of reducing the number of people with mental illnesses in the County jail and improving outcomes for the County’s most vulnerable residents. The County is participating in a Town Hall on Wednesday, May 16, 2018, from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m., at the Gainesville Police Department’s Hall of Heroes (545 N.W. 8th Ave, Gainesville). The event is open to the public, and refreshments will be served.
Speakers at the Town Hall include The Honorable Judge of the Eighth Judicial Circuit of Florida Denise Ferrero, Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell, Alachua County Commissioner Robert Hutchinson, Meridian Behavioral Healthcare Forensic Programs Director Leah Vail, and Gainesville Police Department Lieutenant Whitney Stout. Consumers of mental health services will also share their perspectives.
Stepping Up is a national initiative to reduce the number of people with mental illnesses in jails. Led by the National Association of Counties, the American Psychiatric Association Foundation, and The Council of State Governments Justice Center, Stepping Up provides counties with a framework and tools for creating a collaborative, system-wide plan to reduce the number of people with mental illnesses in the county jail in ways that not only improve public safety but promote positive outcomes for individuals with mental illnesses, their families and their communities.
More than 420 counties across the country have passed a resolution or proclamation to join Stepping Up.
View the Stepping Up Day of Action Town Hall flyer.
View the Alachua County Proclamation of May 16, 2018, as “Stepping Up Day of Action in Alachua County.
Find out more about the Stepping Up Initiative.
For more information, contact Alachua County Criminal Justice Liaison Stuart Wegener at 352-548-3708 or swegener@alachuacounty.us.