The Stepping Up Initiative

Mission: The mission of the Alamance County Stepping Up Initiative is to reduce the number of persons with mental illness or co-occurring and substance use who are involved with the criminal justice system.

Vision: We envision a community that respects, supports, and embraces persons with mental illness or co-occurring mental illness and substance dependence, and whose systems of health and behavioral health, law enforcement, justice, human services, public safety, and advocates work together in a deliberate and coordinated fashion to optimize the level of services provided for them and minimize their level of incarceration in the county detention center.

Statement from the National Association of Counties (NACo):

“Stepping Up is a national initiative to reduce the number of people with mental illnesses in jails and is the result of a collaboration between the National Association of Counties, The Council of State Governments Justice Center and the American Psychiatric Association Foundation. For more information, visit www.stepuptogether.org.”