The Stepping Up Strategy Lab

The Strategy Lab is a new interactive tool that features over a hundred examples from jurisdictions across the country of people working to reduce the number of people with serious mental illnesses in their jails. The tool was created for Stepping Up project coordinators as well as state and local government officials, policymakers, and researchers, among others, to guide the creation of cross-systems, data-informed strategies along four key measures. These measures are: (1) reduce bookings into jail, (2) reduce length of stay, (3) increase connection to treatment, and (4) reduce recidivism.

Users can access the Strategy Lab to search through interventions by their relevance to each of the four key measures; whether the intervention is a program, policy, or practice; categories such as behavioral health, courts, crisis services, housing, jail, law enforcement, pretrial, project coordination, and reentry; or a combination of all three. The database will be updated every six months to reflect new programs, progress, and changes in the field.