Stepping Up is a national initiative targeted at reducing the number of people with mental illnesses in jails. Without change, large numbers of people with mental illnesses (many with co-occurring substance use disorders) will continue to cycle through the criminal justice system, often resulting in missed opportunities to link them to treatment, tragic outcomes, inefficient use of funding, and failure to improve public safety.
The Ohio Project - which was initiated by retired Ohio Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton - was launched in May 2015 as a partnership between The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, The National Association of Counties, and The American Psychiatric Association Foundation - is designed to rally leaders around the goal of achieving a reduction in the number of people with mental illnesses and substance use disorders in jail. The national Stepping Up Summit brought together leaders from dozens of counties across the country to address the mental health crisis in their jails, and Ohio is the first state to host a state-specific Stepping Up summit.
The Ohio Psychiatric Physicians Association is proud to support the Stepping Up Initiative - The Ohio Project and appreciates the opportunity to serve on the Steering Committee to help further the Ohio Project.
OPPA Representative(s) on the Steering Committee: Megan Testa, MD and Janet Shaw, MBA