From Fair and Just Prosecutions:
People with mental illness are overrepresented throughout the justice system despite clear evidence that the vast majority of individuals who struggle with these issues need help, not a jail bed, and pose no threat to their communities. But in communities without robust mental health crisis response systems and investments in alternatives to incarceration, police may be unnecessarily called to respond to mental health crises and prosecutors may resort to overly carceral and punitive approaches.
Many jurisdictions around the nation have begun exploring proactive public health approaches to mental illness that emphasize fair and compassionate treatment and result in improved outcomes for individuals and communities. FJP’s new toolkit offers examples of best practices, promising approaches, and compassionate innovations that prosecutors can help implement at every stage of the criminal justice system.
“We can’t incarcerate our way out of substance abuse; incarcerate our way out of mental health. We have to treat it.”
– St. Louis County, MO Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell
Read the fact sheet here.
|
|
|
|
