Starting Points: How Communities Can Begin Local Responses to Decriminalizing Mental Illness Artwork

Mental Illness Is Not a Crime

In this podcast, listeners will hear experts from across the United States discuss how and why we have criminalized mental illness – and what we can do about it. The challenge is steep. In the U.S., more than two million people with a mental health condition are jailed every year. And roughly one in two Americans with a serious mental illness will be arrested. Alisa Roth, the author and journalist, notes that jails and prisons “have become the nation’s de facto mental health care providers.” Listen in to learn more.

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Mental Illness Is Not a Crime

Starting Points: How Communities Can Begin Local Responses to Decriminalizing Mental Illness

December 02, 2020 • Sam Savin • Season 1 • Episode 3

0:00 | 55:48

Community leaders discuss how to begin local efforts to reduce the over-incarceration of the mentally ill. Topics discussed include identifying local “champions,” building alternatives to incarceration in the community, and addressing the underlying issues that contribute to incarceration. The community leaders featured include:

Judge Steve Leifman, Associate Administrative Judge, Miami-Dade County Court – Criminal Division

Dr. Ashwin Vasan, M.D., Ph.D., President and CEO, Fountain House

H. Jean Wright II, Psy.D., Director, Behavioral Health and Justice Related Services, City of Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services

Moderated by Pete Earley, Bestselling Author and Mental Health Advocate