By Risë Haneberg, Tony Fabelo,  Fred Osher, and Michael Thompson 

Stepping Up is a national initiative reducing over-incarceration of people with mental illnesses. Stepping Up provides counties with a framework that allows each community to select the right evidence-based policies and practices for them, based on their data and unique local circumstances. This new edition of "Reducing the Number of People with Mental Illnesses in Jail: Six Questions County Leaders Need to Ask" advances the original Stepping Up framework published in 2017 by embedding a racial equity lens and uplifting the voices of people with lived experience. It provides six guiding questions for county leaders, offers tips gleaned from counties across the country that answered the call to action, and addresses ongoing challenges.

New York: The Council of State Governments Justice Center, 2024. 17p.

By Ryan Maranville, Emilee Gree, and Jessica Reichert

Illinois’ prison work release centers, called Adult Transition Centers (ATCs), connect incarcerated people to vocational opportunities to support successful community reentry. As part of a larger process and outcome evaluation of Illinois ATCs, we conducted 16 interviews with Illinois Department of Corrections administrators and ATC program staff to understand their perceptions about ATC operations and purpose as well as their perspectives on ATC effectiveness, strengths, and weaknesses. Participants noted that ATCs offer individualized behavioral health treatment, build educational and vocational skills, and provide promising employment prospects upon release. Interviewees believed they fostered positive relationships with work release participants, contributing to their success. However, interviewees believed the effectiveness of work release programs may be reduced when participation is relatively short and community-based social support services are insufficient. Relevant research and some considerations of our findings are discussed.

Chicago: Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, 2025. 29p.