Stepping Up to Advance Racial Equity: Lessons Learned and Implications for the Field

Since the launch of Stepping Up in 2015, the goal of the initiative has been and continues to be to reduce the overincarceration of people with behavioral health needs. However, the societal reckoning that followed the murder of George Floyd in 2020 underscored the need to explicitly center racial equity in criminal justice initiatives.¹ Several counties participating in Stepping Up started to lead efforts to address the dual disproportionality experienced at the intersection of the behavioral health and criminal justice systems by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) individuals.² Inspired by the work of trailblazing counties and in response to the need for guidance in this area, the Stepping Up partners—The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, National Association of Counties, and American Psychiatric Association Foundation—committed to a plan to apply a racial equity lens to the Stepping Up initiative. The Blackprint Institute, The Center for Effective Public Policy, and C4 Innovations were enlisted to identify best practice guidance in advancing equity and including the voices of people with lived experience. Initial work included conducting a survey and interviews with seven sites identified as early leaders in addressing racial equity, followed by gathering additional information from Stepping Up Innovator counties and creating a fieldwide Community of Practice focused on implementing equity-centered policies and practices. The CSG Justice Center published the Applying the Stepping Up Framework to Advance Racial Equity guide and adapted the foundational Stepping Up framework to incorporate racial equity as a pillar of the initiative.

Through these efforts, the Stepping Up team has worked closely with multiple counties striving to advance racial equity and identified key strategies and opportunities for growth in this work. Informed by these initial efforts, this brief provides Stepping Up counties with six lessons learned from the field to offer both practical strategies and a hopeful reminder that small steps can turn into strong strides.

1. Determine where your county falls along the spectrum of efforts to advance racial equity.

Racial equity efforts focus on strategies that address racial disparities and center equity for people experiencing disproportionalities at this critical intersection. These efforts fall along a spectrum as counties continue to grapple with the prevalence of racial disparities in their systems while adapting to political climates and priorities. Determining where your community falls along this spectrum, based on the descriptions provided below, provides a baseline from which to begin or further your efforts.

a. A set of Stepping Up counties are hitting their stride, centering equity and addressing racial disparities experienced among people of color with serious mental illness in the criminal justice system.

Stepping Up counties that have demonstrated progress embraced and implemented strategies incorporating racial equity into policy, programs, and practices. Following Stepping Up’s Set, Measure, Achieve guidance, these counties developed targeted data analysis to measure the number of people with serious mental illness (SMI) in their local jails disaggregated by race and ethnicity. They’re also working with behavioral health leaders and community partners to improve connections to care and referral practices for BIPOC individuals. The most significant target areas for racial equity efforts are diversion and deflection opportunities at key intercepts in the criminal justice system. Some counties are using racial equity assessment tools to evaluate critical program operation practices and policies, determine structural changes, and properly apply a racial equity lens.

b. Some counties are tackling racial equity with other justice reform efforts with varying degrees of success due to siloed efforts.

Along the spectrum, counties are developing and incorporating racial equity efforts as part of broader criminal justice reform efforts and existing behavioral health initiatives. Stepping Up counties are applying a racial equity lens to target the overrepresentation of people of color with SMI at crucial intercepts to reduce jail overcrowding, the SMI population at bookings, and the average length of stay in the criminal justice system for individuals with behavioral health concerns. However, counties face challenges when racial equity efforts are siloed, resulting in a decrease or lack of leadership support, limited resource allocation, and challenges with long-term sustainability when the political will does not exist to make such efforts in a stand-alone approach. Counties facing these challenges can access technical assistance, confer with peer counties who have navigated similar situations, and build or strengthen relationships with county and agency officials through the Stepping Up information request line.

c. Other counties need support in advancing such a large-scale change.

Overall, counties recognize the need to center racial equity, and a majority acknowledge the overrepresentation of the BIPOC population in arrest, booking, and jail data.³ Despite these insights, many counties need help navigating political climates and shifting priorities, securing leadership support, engaging system and community stakeholders, and accessing resources such as data, funding, staffing support, or authority to make policy, practice, or program changes. Counties facing these challenges may feel overwhelmed or unequipped to advance racial equity or address disparities. Stepping Up recommends a “one step, one policy” approach in which counties identify one task, policy, or practice that impacts racial equity as an essential first step.⁴ Approaching this work one step at a time makes the work more manageable and allows small “wins” to build over time.

2. Establish leadership support, which can make or break racial equity efforts.

Successful racial equity initiatives require committed leadership and support from organizations and stakeholders with decision-making power to ensure that policy, practice, and programming changes are implemented. Key leaders, such as county commissioners, judges, jail administrators, and behavioral health directors, can endorse and participate in the planning process, providing leaders an opportunity to better understand the needs of the community and participate in the prioritization of next steps. In counties with broad support, agencies and organizations have a formal definition of racial equity, create comprehensive strategic plans, facilitate conversations among key system stakeholders and community partners, and incorporate the voice of community engagement. Unfortunately, many jurisdictions face challenges in obtaining strong commitment from leadership due to barriers such as competing priorities between programmatic and operational needs, lack of resources, reluctance to define and elevate racial equity efforts,⁵ a lack of consensus on the scope of the problem and the approach needed, or a lack of buy-in due to historical and cultural factors.

3. Build capacity for data collection and analysis to center racial equity.

Applying a racial equity lens to Stepping Up efforts requires a data-driven approach to reduce bias and disparities. Analyzing data disaggregated by race and ethnicity helps counties identify the overrepresentation of racial and ethnic groups and differences in experience, access, and outcomes within their criminal justice and behavioral health systems. Counties have noted the importance of consistent data collection and access, the need for user-friendly data systems, and staff with the expertise to analyze data and present findings that demonstrate equitable access to services and improved outcomes in a way that is relatable to county decision-makers.⁶ Engaged community members may also have helpful insights on which data to analyze and be helpful in providing context to interpret data as it becomes available. Stepping Up counties that are tracking the four key measures should establish data tracking protocols that embed disaggregating data by race and ethnicity to allow for analysis of racial disparities and inform counties to pinpoint decision points where inequities can be reduced.

4. Invest resources in measuring the outcomes and impact of implemented policies and programming.

Despite the prevalence of racial equity efforts, the field has few examples of measurable success at this critical intersection. Just as it is important to invest in strong planning and implementation, it is equally important to measure for the intended outcomes. Counties run the risk of investing time, resources, and goodwill in racial equity efforts only to struggle to measure the impact and quantify their success. Further, neglecting this focus area can result in counties missing adverse effects and outcomes that unintentionally exacerbate disparities and inequity for BIPOC populations. Prioritizing data collection to measure outcomes during the planning and implementation process can help counties secure broader leadership support, ensure additional resources, and facilitate sustainability.

5. Engage community members and people with lived experience in the criminal justice and behavioral health systems.

“Nothing about us without us.”⁷ This quote communicates that policies should not be decided on without the full participation of group members who would be affected. Community engagement is a crucial component to advance racial equity and eliminate racial disparities successfully. Behavioral health systems have long recognized the importance of including people with lived experience to support recovery, provide mentorship, and improve treatment outcomes.⁸ Similarly, counties that are leading the way in this work understand the need to engage BIPOC communities impacted by the behavioral health and criminal justice systems in determining systems improvements to increase equity. Communities impacted at this intersection have a unique perspective and expertise that enhances problem-solving, identifies innovative community-level responses, and leverages networks that can increase the impact of racial equity efforts.

6. Remember: Applying a racial equity lens at the intersection of behavioral health and criminal justice is a marathon, not a sprint.

Applying a racial equity lens and addressing disparities progresses along a continuum that includes progress and setbacks. It can be overwhelming to center racial equity in an environment in which resources are limited and stakeholders grapple with competing interests and the pressure of politically charged policies. At times, counties will have the elements needed to create momentum and progress, such as leadership support, stakeholder engagement, data access, and funding support. At other times, the components needed take time to marshal and coalesce. In some cases, racial equity efforts will stall due to loss of leadership support, shifts in priorities, lack of funding, resource constraints, and resistance due to prevailing culture. But at its core, racial equity efforts seek to improve the experience of BIPOC individuals, who are overrepresented and underserved in the criminal justice and behavioral health systems. This can range from small policy changes that open opportunities for deflection and diversion to more extensive additions to crisis response services, such as creating community responder and peer-led programming. No step is too small or insignificant if it moves the needle forward in providing equitable access, support, treatment, and justice regardless of race and with an understanding of people’s individual needs.

Endnotes

1. Rapid Equity Assessment (New York: The Blackprint Institute, 2021).

2. Risë Haneberg & Kate Reed, Applying the Stepping Up Framework to Advance Racial Equity (New York: The Council of State Governments Justice Center, 2023), https://csgjusticecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Applying-the-Stepping-Up-Framework-to-Advance-Racial-Equity_Updated_508.pdf.

3. Ibid., 2.

4. Ibid., 11.

5. Ibid., 1.

6. Ibid., 1.

7. James I. Charlton, Nothing About Us Without Us: Disability Oppression and Employment (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2000), 3-4.

8. Kelsie George, “Peer Support Specialists: Connections to Mental Health Care,” National Conference of State Legislatures, June 7, 2022, https://www.ncsl.org/state-legislatures-news/details/peer-support-specialists-connections-to-mental-health-care.

9. Disparity Reduction: Vision and Priorities (Hennepin County, MN: Hennepin County, MN, 2021), https://www.hennepin.us/disparityreduction/-/media/disparity-reduction/HennepinCounty_DRVision_Priorities.pdf.

10. Midyear Report 2021 (Charleston County, SC: Charleston County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, 2021), https://cjcc.charlestoncounty.org/files/FINAL-2021-MIDYEAR-REPORT.pdf.

11. Nick Dunne, “Mayor Tishaura O. Jones, Behavioral Health Response, and Mastercard Commemorate One-Year Anniversary of Cops and Clinicians, 911 Diversion Programs,” Office of the Mayor of St. Louis, MO, February 17, 2022, https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/mayor/news/one-year-anniversary-cops-and-clinicians.cfm.

12. “Inmate Population Data by Year,” St. Louis, MO, accessed March 7, 2024, https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/data/dashboards/inmates/index.cfm?startYear=2010&endYear=2024&measure=dailyPopulation&attribute=race#byYear.

13. “St. Louis County Highlights Tap In Center in Partnership with St. Louis County Library,” St. Louis County, MO, May 17, 2023, https://stlouiscountymo.gov/st-louis-county-government/county-executive/county-executive-news/st-louis-county-highlights-tap-in-center-partnership-with-st-louis-county-library/.