Press Release: Mayor A C Wharton Launches the Jericho Initiative

(The following press release is published as it was received by the Main Street Journal.)

MAYOR A C WHARTON LAUNCHES THE JERICHO INITIATIVE

A new behavioral health strategy coordinated to transform systems of
care for persons with serious mental illness in contact with the
criminal justice system

memphis, tenn - Jail is often the last stop when safety nets fail for
persons with serious mental illness. Criminalization of mental illness
is a complex and growing local, regional and national problem. On
Thursday, March 5, Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton will launch a new
strategic effort to promote public health and safety, decriminalize
mental illness and support effective jail population management. Mayor
Wharton will unveil the Jericho Initiative during a community forum
event at the FedEX Institute of Technology from 9 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. The
event will feature Kathryn Power, Director of the Center for Mental
Health Services at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration, as well as other behavioral healthcare professionals.

Jails and prisons have become the largest mental health care providers
in the United States - with 800,000 persons indentified as having a
serious mental illness booked into them each year. The incidence of
mental illness in state prisons and local jails is from 3 to 8 times
that in the general population, and there are presently 280,000 persons
with mental illness in the corrections systems, more than five times the
number in psychiatric hospitals. The Jericho Initiative construct -
overcoming recovery barriers at key intercept points to provide persons
direct and immediate access to treatment preventing deeper penetration
into the criminal justice system - places Shelby County as a national
leader in the decriminalization of mental illness.

“The Jericho Initiative provides a conceptual framework for systemic
improvements in the interface between justice and behavioral health
systems,” said Mayor Wharton. “This is a bold and provocative approach
to combat prevailing issues related to recidivism.”

The Jericho Initiative rises from Mayor Wharton’s nationally-recognized,
post-booking jail diversion program - the Jericho Project. Now in its
10th year, the Jericho Project pioneered a non-specialty court model
designed to target individuals with serious mental illness and
co-occurring substance use whose level of criminal justice involvement
makes them ineligible for diversion through other programs. The Jericho
Project offers courts quality alternatives to pretrial detention
utilizing an array of supervised, conditional release strategies.

As director of the Center for Mental Health Services, Kathryn Power -
along with her 126 member staff - is charged with providing national
leadership in improving mental health services for all Americans. Power
will speak on the benefits of the Jericho Initiative in decriminalizing
mental illness through evidence-based treatment and services.

The Jericho Initiative community launch event is free and open to the
public. Individuals interested in attending should RVSP by email to
rsvp@shelbycountytn.gov.

For more information contact:

Robert White, 901-544-4588

Robert.White@shelbycountytn.gov

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