Somerville Community Safety Coalition — File 210743

Somerville Community Safety Coalition Presenter: Sarah Courtney, MSW, LCSW

What’s the problem? Individuals with mental illnesses and substance addictions are overrepresented in incarcerated populations Individuals with severe mental illnesses are incarcerated for 2x as long as those without severe mental illness even when controlling for other variables (race, socioeconomic status, age) In Massachusetts, Black residents are overrepresented in incarcerated populations and underrepresented in both substance addiction and mental health treatment

Is it safe to divert people with mental illness and substance addictions to community based treatment? Yes! Research shows that access to quality mental health treatment is the most effective tool for ensuring the best health and justice outcomes for both the individual and the community

Sequential Intercept Model

We need to reframe our ideas about community safety… We will move from the question “How can we prepare police to respond to mental health and substance related crisis?” to… “How do we partner with our community to enable police to refer to treatment services and eventually create an emergency response specifically designed to assess and meet the needs of individuals with mental health and/or substance related crises?”

Thank you and let’s get to work!