Apply Now to Join Stepping Up’s 2023 Set, Measure, Achieve Community of Practice: Leveraging Data to Support Programming, Equity, and Sustainability

May 5, 2023

The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center is hosting a virtual Community of Practice (CoP) to support Stepping Up counties in demonstrating reduced prevalence of mental illness in local justice systems through Set, Measure, Achieve. This CoP will be led by CSG Justice Center staff, with featured presentations from peer counties, and will build upon previous CoPs that more than 30 county teams participated in from April to November 2022. This CoP will combine returning county teams from previous CoP series in addition to welcoming new county teams. The CoP will (1) facilitate discussions of data related to the Stepping Up four key measures as well as programs and practices that can have an impact on those measures; (2) support counties in making the case with data for advancing racial equity and sustaining their efforts; and (3) provide one-on-one support for county teams outside the CoP sessions.

Upon completion of the CoP, participants will

  • Understand how to identify racial and ethnic disparities in justice and behavioral health system process or outcome data;
  • Identify one step, policy, or practice that will improve outcomes for people involved in the justice system with serious mental illness (SMI) and co-occurring substance use disorders and/or reduce racial and ethnic disparities among this population, working in partnership with people who have lived experience in the justice and behavioral health systems; and
  • Be able to make the case for sustaining programs or practices by using outcome data from their Set, Measure, Achieve efforts.

These sessions will be held in partnership with the National Association of Counties and the American Psychiatric Association Foundation, with funding support from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs’ Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA).

Dates:

  • Tuesday, June 13
  • Tuesday, July 18
  • Tuesday, August 22
  • Tuesday, September 19

All sessions will take place 1:00–2:30 p.m. ET.

If you are interested in participating, submit this application by Thursday, June 1, 2023.  If you have any questions, contact Mark Stovell at mstovell@csg.org.

Which counties should apply?

This Community of Practice is targeted toward counties that can easily access accurate data on the prevalence of SMI in their jails. Ideally, participating counties should plan to join Set, Measure, Achieve, if they have not already. Applicants that do not have a current BJA Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program grant award will be prioritized for this opportunity. Note that if your county team has previously participated in a Stepping Up Set, Measure, Achieve Community of Practice, there is no need to re-apply.

Who should participate?

We encourage each county to be prepared to participate as an interdisciplinary team comprising the following representatives: (1) jail administration; (2) county criminal justice/Stepping Up coordinator; (3) jail analyst and/or jail IT staff; (4) staff from a community-based behavioral health treatment provider; (5) people with behavioral health needs or lived experience in the justice system and/or staff from advocacy organizations that support this population. Five team members at most may actively participate in each session; however, additional team members may join to listen in. The suggested attendees will vary for each session, with the exception of county criminal justice/Stepping Up coordinators, who are advised to attend all sessions. Participating counties will coordinate with the CSG Justice Center to determine the appropriate combination of attendees for each session.

What will the sessions cover?

Session 1 will orient new county teams to the Set, Measure, Achieve call to action and is optional for returning county teams. CSG Justice Center staff will provide an overview of recommended methods for defining and calculating the Stepping Up four key measures and how to submit data through the Set, Measure, Achieve Progress Survey. Counties will also have the opportunity via virtual breakout rooms to discuss their current data collection efforts for Set Measure Achieve, including sharing any available data.

 

Session 2 will provide an overview of approaches to defining race and ethnicity and “familiar faces” populations, referencing CSG Justice Center resources such as Applying the Stepping Up Framework to Advance Racial Equity and Familiar Faces and high-needs populations work. Counties will discuss via virtual breakout rooms their efforts to collect this data, if applicable, and using this data to inform program and practice decisions.

Session 3 will provide an overview of programs, policies, and practices that can impact the Stepping Up four key measures. Counties will have an opportunity via virtual breakout rooms to discuss interventions in their counties that are having an impact on the four key measures and their available Set, Measure, Achieve data related to those measures. Counties will be encouraged to identify one program or practice that can address one or more of the key measures and/or advance racial equity.

Session 4 will encourage counties to report out on progress that they’ve made since the beginning of the Community of Practice, including successes and challenges with interventions addressing the four key measures, and counties will discuss their upcoming goals for tracking targets over the next year. Drawing on CSG Justice Center resources on sustainability, CSG Justice Center staff will facilitate discussion among the counties on how they can use data to sustain one or more components of their Set, Measure, Achieve work.

Photo by Lukas via Pexels.

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