Sun., April 6, 11:45 am
Loper Chapel
What is “Care First, Jails Last”? It is the policy Alameda County adopted in 2021 to stop the mass incarceration of people with mental illness. The goal was to develop a continuum of care in order to reduce the number of people with mental illness and substance use in our jail, the Santa Rita Jail. A Task Force developed a plan with 58 recommendations, which was approved by the Board Supervisors in August 2024. The plan lays out what has to be done to have fewer people with mental illness and substance use problems in our jail.
As a member church of the Interfaith Coalition for Justice in our Jails (ICJJ), First Church Berkeley has an interest in this Care First, Jails Last policy and in supporting its implementation. In this Learning Hour about mental health, jails, and justice, we will, as a congregation, look in more detail at what the plan involves and discuss how we as a church can be supportive of the plan. Please join me on Sun., April 6 in Loper Chapel at 11:45 am.
What areas are covered in the plan? Racial equity, housing, mental health, diversion, and funding. Housing is of course a major issue: not only affordable housing, but also beds for treatment. A lternatives to police intervention in response to mental health crisis situations is also an important piece of the plan. Diversion is the effort to provide alternatives to incarceration, which can happen in behavioral health and collaborative courts. As always, funding is an issue, but incarceration is also very costly. An Ad-Hoc committee has started to work on making these goals a reality in our county.
— Willem VandeKamp, Liaison to the Interfaith Coalition for Justice in our Jails for First Church Berkeley