Photo by Jovelle Tamayo
Behavioral Health Crisis Alternatives
Shifting from Police to Community Responses
Responding to Behavioral Health Crises
Related Work
Series: Covid-19
Coronavirus, Mental Health, and the Enduring Importance of Health-Centered Crisis Response
With support from the NFL Foundation, Vera’s Serving Safely initiative promotes crisis response programs that connect people in crisis to community-based services while minimizing involvement with police and the criminal justice system. In today’s fraught environment, however, vital social distancing efforts deprive people of traditional supports a ...
Blog Post
Jackson Beck
Leah Pope
Crisis Response Services for People with Mental Illnesses or Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
A Review of the Literature on Police-based and Other First Response Models
The Vera Institute of Justice (Vera) launched Serving Safely in May 2018 as a national initiative to improve police responses to people with serious mental illnesses (SMI) and intellectual/developmental disabilities (I/DD). The initiative’s Research and Evaluation Committee developed this literature review as a first step toward creating a research ...
Bringing Back Mental Institutions Won't Stop Mass Shootings
It’s inaccurate and cruel to blame people with mental illness for societal violence. Rather than reverting to outdated, ineffective, and inhumane approaches to mental health, we should instead invest in community-based treatment that works. Comprehensive, integrated, and evidence-based care in communities can foster recovery and allow people to liv ...
Blog Post
Leah Pope
Karina Schroeder
Racial Disparities In Mental Health And Criminal Justice
Blog Post
Leah Pope
Serving Safely
Fact Sheet on the National Initiative to Enhance Policing for Persons with Mental Illnesses and Developmental Disabilities
People living with mental illnesses and developmental disabilities are disproportionately represented in contacts with the police, and these interactions can lead to stress and dangerous conditions for everyone involved. Law enforcement agencies can now request the tools they need to serve safely and effectively.
For Mental Health Month, a New Initiative Focused on Serving Safely
As organizations across the country draw attention to Mental Health Awareness Month this May and to the various ways that mental illness impacts people’s lives, the launch of Serving Safely offers a chance to reflect on the myriad opportunities for improving the way criminal justice stakeholders interact with vulnerable community members at all sta ...
Blog Post
Leah Pope
Rebecca Neusteter