Greetings, D4 residents -
After taking some time to enjoy the holidays and reflect on last year's achievements, my team hit the ground running in 2022.
What has really excited me this month is seeing the energy, engagement and commitment of the hundreds of community members who participated in some tough conversations about significant issues in our County, including how we address and treat mental illness & substance use disorders and how we ensure public safety for all of us in a way that is truly just. More on those below and in my Medium* blog post.
*We recently added a landing page for more in-depth explanations of initiatives on which I have led, or issues voted on by the Board which residents may want to understand in greater detail. This link will take you to that page. This month's post covers broad community support for alternatives to incarceration.
Mental Health as Public Health Crisis
During the first Board of Supervisors meeting of the new year on Jan. 11, my colleagues on the Board unanimously approved my referral, in partnership with Supervisor Otto Lee, to declare mental health and substance use disorders a public health crisis in our county.
The pandemic may have heightened the needs for mental health support in our community, but the magnitude of unmet need far pre-dates 2019. We are confronted with challenges including a shortage of treatment slots at nearly every level, a workforce shortage that makes service expansion challenging, and an inadequate range of facilities to meet the needs presented by our residents. In the months and years ahead, you should expect addressing these issues to be a primary focus of County government.
You can read the full referral here, and you can find more of my thoughts on this topic in my December blog post on School-Based Mental Health.
You can also learn more about mental health on the state and federal levels here and here.
Public Safety that is Just and Safe, Appropriate Alternatives to Incarceration
Everyone deserves to live in a community where their basic needs are met: safe and stable places to sleep, sufficient nutrition, health care, quality education and the opportunity to work at a job that allows for economic independence. When those needs are not met for all residents, we are as a whole less safe.
The way we respond to harm can increase or decrease our collective safety. We need to hold people accountable for harm they have caused, make victims of harm as whole as possible, and do these things in a way that promotes long term public safety.
Locking people in jail, particularly before they have been convicted of a crime or when they are clearly suffering from significant mental illnesses, has not worked to keep us safer. Fortunately, there is strong and growing consensus around re-evaluating our systems of public safety and justice.
The outpouring of support for my referral on Jan. 25 to improve public safety and justice through more comprehensive behavioral health care and expanding community-based alternatives to pre-trial incarceration clearly demonstrated that consensus.
You can read my full referral here. A more detailed reflection on the public conversation, the votes that were taken and what lies ahead can be found here.
As we return to in-person gatherings, please feel free to send an invitation to my office for me to attend your community event. I enjoy being out in the community with residents and look forward to seeing you all soon.
I and my team are here for you.
Be well,
Susan
