A group of five Alachua County professionals will soon board a plane to Washington, D.C. to discuss the prevalence of inmates with mental illnesses in American jails.
The Council of State Governments will host the first-ever Stepping Up Initiative from April 17 to April 19, according to a press release.
The trip is scheduled about a month after Gov. Rick Scott signed House Bill 0439: Mental Health Services in the Criminal Justice System, establishing future mental health court programs for people who might otherwise be jailed for crimes related to mental illnesses or substance abuse disorders.
Despite local services, the number of mentally ill inmates in Alachua County prisons and jails increased 35 percent in less than a decade, said Stuart Wegener, an employee for Alachua County court services.
He said many people belong in psychiatric hospitals rather than in jails or prisons.
“The summit is a great opportunity to build on the work we are already doing,” he said.
The county will be represented by Robert Hutchinson, the Alachua County commission chair; Maj. Charlie Lee, the director of the Alachua County Jail; Peria Duncan, the director of the Alachua County Department of Court Services; Leah Vail, the forensic program director for Meridian Behavioral HealthCare, Inc. and Terrie Mullin, the president of Gainesville’s National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Mullin said she felt even greater hope for the future after being invited to the summit.
“It’s just awful,” she said. “Families have tried to get them (the inmates) out, but there weren’t services available.”
Gainesville is a leader in the movement to improve mental health care services to existing and would-be inmates, Mullin said, but there is a lot to be learned.
Mullin’s employer, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, lists resources such as the UF Health Shands Psychiatric Hospital, Alachua County Crisis Center, Gainesville Opportunity Center and the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance on its website.
“I’m excited to shine a light on this,” she said.
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