Mission Statement

The County of San Luis Obispo is committed to creating and supporting policies and programs that serve to improve the quality of life of community members impacted by mental illness or substance use disorders, and to reduce involvement in the criminal justice system by promoting recovery and resiliency.

Vision

The vision of the County of San Luis Obispo Stepping Up Initiative is to put into place, through programs, intervention, and collaboration within the County of San Luis Obispo and our Community Partners, resources to benefit the county population impacted by mental illness. We are committed to building a strong network of stakeholders to support this population through connecting them to treatments, reducing the percentage of jail bookings, shortening the length of stay in jail, and lowering recidivism rates. We have a commitment to be an Innovator County through leading the way in supporting this community by creating best practices, mentoring fellow counties, and being an ambassador for the Initiative, all while building tangible solutions for this community in achieving a better quality of life.

Guiding Principles and Core Values

🛡️ Integrity - We will demonstrate our commitment to our initiatives by maintaining strong moral principles through accountability to each other and the community that we serve.

🙏 Respect - We will support, appreciate and value the individuals we serve, their families, and our community partners by treating them with the same dignity as we wish to be treated.

⚙️ Teamwork - We encourage each other to recognize the contributions of others and appreciate their diverse perspectives and unique contributions that each team member brings to the County.

🤝 Collaboration - We will work collaboratively within our County and with our community partners to provide quality services to individuals with mental illness.

💡 Innovation - We strive to lead the way in serving individuals with mental illness and are always seeking innovative technologies, new processes, and resources that will build a pathway to success for our initiatives.

🎯 Commitment to Outcomes – We are dedicated to the community we serve in achieving our specified outcomes. We are committed to developing and creating meaningful solutions to afford this community with a better quality of life.

Four Key Measures and Targets for Change

1. Reduce the number of individuals who have mental illnesses booked into jail

Bookings target: 2% reduction annually in bookings of those who screen positive on the Brief Jail Mental Health Screen, with the long-term goal of positive screenings at booking making up no more than 22% of all bookings on average.

Average Daily Population target: 5% reduction annually in average daily population of those individuals with SMI in the Jail, with the long-term goal of inmates with SMI making up no more than 10-12% of the average daily population.

2. Reduce the length of stay in jail for individuals with mental illnesses

Average Length of Stay target: 5% reduction annually in average length of stay for those individuals with SMI in the Jail, with the long-term goal being that average length of stay for the SMI population be equal to the population without SMI.

3. Increase the percentage of individuals with severe mental illnesses connected to treatment in the community upon release from jail

Connections to Treatment target: 60% in the first year with a 20% increase in the second and third year for individuals with SMI for post-release behavioral health treatment, with the long term goal that 100% have a referral and appointment set with a community partner or the County Behavioral Health Department before release.

4. Reduce recidivism rates for individuals with mental illness

Rebooking target: 5% reduction annually for individuals with SMI rebooked into the jail, with the long-term goal of rebooking numbers being equal to those for the non-SMI population.

Technical Violations target: 5% reduction annually from baseline.

New Charges target: 5% reduction annually from baseline.

Year 1 Actions

• Increase the number of Mental Health Evaluation Teams (MHET)/crisis response staff and increase follow up by MHET.
• Maximize use of the Crisis Stabilization Unit by law enforcement in lieu of jail when appropriate by implementing a law enforcement drop off. Increase capacity of CSU to do on-site medical screenings as needed.
• Coordinate reentry efforts and early discharge planning, using a whole person care approach.
• Track, review, and share data about each of the specialty court programs for the purpose of continuous quality improvement.
• Work with recovery residence providers and other housing providers in accepting clients with dual diagnosis and various medication needs, including medication assisted treatment (MAT).

Year 2 Actions

• Work with dispatch to refer appropriate mental health calls to the crisis line and continue to expand cross training between Mental Health Evaluation Team, 911 dispatchers and law enforcement.
• Create a system of sharing screening, assessment, and case plan information across departments/settings (within allowable laws) to avoid duplication of work and improve case coordination/continuity of care.
• Improve/expand information sharing between Probation and Behavioral Health and other service providers to more easily identify sessions missed by probationers and reinforce service engagement. Possibly a portal for log-in to see and update attendance.
• Conduct additional research on the housing shortfall and which type(s) are most likely to make Stepping Up efforts successful and move towards adding top priority housing types.
• Continue plans to construct and open a residential treatment facility with withdrawal management next to 40 Prado Center.

Year 3 Actions

• Develop a behavioral health triage/sobering center for law enforcement to utilize in lieu of bringing non-serious offenders to jail.
• In partnership with an evaluation contractor, work on understanding program outcomes and any needed refinement for Mental Health Diversion Court.

Ongoing Actions

• Continue to refine Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) and Program; add a new procedure to send out advanced CIT-trained officers out on mental health calls.
• Continue to facilitate inpatient admissions and educate partners (especially law enforcement) on psychiatric inpatient services available through the Psychiatric Health Facility (PHF).
• Continue to improve access to existing programming inside the jail, including fostering collaboration between Jail staff, WellPath staff, and community partners.
• Expand Behavioral Health Community Action Team as funding becomes available.