Our 2022-23 Community Spring campaign, Links Not Locks, has come to a close, but the work will carry on for many years as we continue to disentangle the behavioral health and justice systems. In reflecting on what we’ve done and where we go from here, I wanted to share some key things we learned and some really simple things you can do to improve behavioral health in our community. These problems can often seem too big to do anything about, but the reality is that there are things we can do together to make our community safer and healthier.
What we learned
Over the course of the campaign, we did a ton of research and talked to dozens of people in our community who are involved with every level of the behavioral health system. From a focus group of people affected by mental health and criminal justice to service providers and government officials, we aimed to learn about the system from every angle.
In November, we conducted a focus group of 12 justice and mental health-impacted people. The amount of insight and empathy that was shared in the room cannot be overstated. And the experiences that were shared all had clear overlapping themes, including:
Mental health and trauma are not openly discussed. When things like trauma and addiction come up, it’s never with a light shining directly on the issues or with a sense of compassion and understanding. Instead, it’s almost always punitive and shame-based.
The mental health care system is not easily accessible. Asking someone to navigate the healthcare system, make appointments, keep appointments, and jump the transportation hurdle is a near-impossible task for people in crisis, especially at the poverty level.
The experience of mental health care can be traumatizing in itself, especially when required by the justice system. With its isolation rooms, locked doors and power imbalance, mental health care often mirrors, or is interconnected with, the carceral system. When they were ordered by a judge or probation officer to show up and share openly in a group or with a clinician who feels disassociated and unrelatable, most folks didn’t find it beneficial, and for some, it made them feel worse. It’s hard to find these services healing when the threat of re-arrest looms over your head at every turn.
There is little oversight of these systems. When problems come up, or you’re not being treated well, there is not a way to raise those concerns to people who can actually help make things better. If you do raise issues, you’re seen as a ‘problem patient’ and invalidated.
We also talked to many people in charge of running these systems and saw how much the justice system is used in the place of a truly supportive mental health system. Funding and resources flow to the justice system in a way they simply don’t for mental health and human services. In 2022, Alachua County spent about $39 million on the jail but only $14 million on its Community Support Services division. There are more people with mental health concerns housed in the jail than in local treatment facilities. There are 35 spots in the mental health diversion court where people could be connected to resources, but unlimited spaces in criminal court. The bottom line is that we have tons of resources and space for punitive measures, but we make healing measures nearly impossible.
While some of this imbalance is accidental, we also found a widespread understanding that maybe this is just how things should be. I recently had a police officer tell me, “Sometimes, jail is a good thing because it's the only way we can connect someone to medication and if they’re lucky, they’ll get into mental health court.” I understand why he had that perspective, but it completely discounts the traumatization, isolation and life-interruption of jail itself. If we want a safer, healthier community, we need to reduce stigma around mental health and make it safe for people to seek support rather than forcing them under the threat of imprisonment.
What we did
As we built Links Not Locks, we started to see a way forward. We saw that we need to improve the quality of our current behavioral health care systems. We need to meet people in crisis with the appropriate response and support rather than punish, isolate and cage them. And we need to reduce stigma around mental health and addiction. Here is some of the work we did to make things better (see our website for more information):
We shared our own stories through articles and made explainer videos from local organizations on how to manage crises.
We connected with local mental health providers, including Carol Lewis, a clinical psychologist with UF Mobile Outreach Clinic, who has an amazing program that teaches wellness tools to grassroots leaders so that they can share them with members of their own community.
We successfully advocated for peer positions to be added to the oversight board for the Central Receiving System and the Public Safety Coordinating Council, which will help ensure the voices of impacted people are heard by people in power.
We created a zine highlighting the current alternatives to calling the police when someone has a mental health crisis. It’s already being used by local organizations and social workers as a helpful guide.
We developed a proposal for an alternative first responder program that would meet people in crisis with a supportive, appropriate response. This team would consist of a medic and mental health professional and would be available through 911, 988 and a hotline.
Next steps
While the fellowship is coming to a close, the work will continue in several forms, and together we can build a safe, supportive community for people with behavioral health concerns. Here are some ways you can support or get involved:
Reducing stigma - Sharing your experience with mental health or addiction and encouraging others to do the same is the first and most critical step toward treating these issues as something that needs care instead of punishment.
Support the development of Community Responders - We are continuing to add supporters for our alternative first responder proposal. If you represent a business or organization, please consider signing on here.
Justice Impact Collaborative - We have created a group of justice-impacted people and front-line social workers that get together monthly to share information and work on collective issues related to the justice system. If you or someone you know has been impacted by the carceral system and would like to be involved in changing it please email MLScottblog@gmail.com so we can invite you to the next meeting.