Mario Drops New Visual/Song, Announces Partnership with Equitas
Blog, In the News, Media Releases, Policy & Culture ChangePublished on PR Web. Chart-Topping, multi-platinum selling, singer, songwriter, and actor, Mario premiered his stunning new introspective video for the emotionally-charged single, “Care For You” today with BET Soul and BET Her for broadc...
Equitas National Advisor Rick Raemisch Reduced Solitary Confinement in Colorado by 98%. He’s Just Been Named Public Official of the Year.
Blog, Corrections, National Advisors, Rick RaemischGoverning Magazine this year recognized Equitas National Advisor and Colorado Department of Corrections Director for ending the overuse of solitary confinement in the state. Some say it’s like being buried alive. The walls close in on ...
Law Enforcement Leaders Agree: Communities Must Step Up to Address Mental Health Needs Preventatively
Blog, Jackie Lacey, Judge Steven Leifman, Pat Nolan, J.D., Public SafetyOn November 13 and 14 in Los Angeles, the Equitas Project convened 90 leaders and decision-makers in law enforcement for the Course Corrections: National Law Enforcement Summit. Participants at the event included police chiefs, sheriffs,...
Judge Steven Leifman Receives Pardes Humanitarian Prize for Helping Thousands Towards Mental Health Instead of Incarceration
Blog, Jeffrey Borenstein, Judge Steven Leifman, Justice“Judge Leifman has accomplished something amazing. Thanks to Judge Leifman’s efforts people don’t go to jail but instead receive treatment so they can move forward with their lives in a healthier way.” –Dr. Jeffrey Borenstein, Pr...
Coordination and Communication are Key to Improving Mental Health and Criminal Justice in America
Blog, Childhood, Corrections, Data, Education, Employment, Health Care, Housing, In the News, Justice, Media Releases, Policy & Culture Change, Public Safety, ReentryMental health and criminal justice are a tangled mess in communities all across the country. Rather than supporting health from childhood through old age, our social systems show hardly any signs of understanding mental health at all. We...
National Public Defenders Summit Directives Document Now Available
Blog, Douglas K. Wilson, Judge Steven Leifman, Justice, Policy & Culture ChangePublic defenders from around the country convened in Denver this spring for the first of its kind event to build consensus for policy and practice reforms. Top defenders from 21 states and the District of Columbia met for two days to ...
Meet Equitas Project Summer 2018 Undergraduate Intern Zena Jahmi
BlogDid you know? The Equitas Project offers internships year-round. These internships offer in-depth experience in the mental health and criminal justice advocacy arena. This summer at Equitas, we have two undergraduate interns and one mast...
Meet the Equitas Project Summer 2018 Practicum Student Lindsay Houston
BlogDid you know? The Equitas Project offers internships year-round. These internships offer in-depth experience in the mental health and criminal justice advocacy arena. This summer at Equitas, we have two undergraduate interns and one mast...
Meet Equitas Project Summer 2018 Undergraduate Intern Sarah Wiener
BlogDid you know? The Equitas Project offers internships year-round. These internships offer in-depth experience in the mental health and criminal justice advocacy arena. This summer at Equitas, we have two undergraduate interns and one mast...
Mental Health Awareness Month 2018
BlogWhere does culture end and the brain begin? The truth is, our culture simultaneously creates and is created by our brains. As the brain receives information from the environment, it creates linkages, pattern recognition, and meaning. We ...
Spring in Review: Disentangling Mental Health & Criminal Justice with the State of Indiana and with National Public Defenders
BlogThis spring, Equitas has been active with projects in several states, completing work in Indianapolis and Denver to convene stakeholders at the intersection of mental health and criminal justice. For the second year, Equitas partnered wi...
Expanding the Presence of Law Enforcement in Schools Takes Us Farther Off Course
BlogIn the wake of the Parkland, Florida shooting in February, legislators around the country have been working to do something to address the vulnerability of schools to such attacks. One answer? Put more police on school campuses. Beefing ...
Expanding Jail-Based Competency Restoration Takes Us Farther Off Course
Blog, Frankie BergerIn 2016, an estimated 90,000 US jail inmates nationwide were “pretrial defendants with serious mental illness who had been found incompetent to stand trial (IST).” In fact, in almost every state, jails hold more people with mental he...
Year in Review 2017
BlogIn 2017, Equitas engaged in dialogue to disentangle mental health and criminal justice with leaders in Indiana; the Mid-Atlantic region including Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia; Los Angeles; New York; Milwaukee; and Chicago. We rel...
Supported Employment (Part II)
Blog“Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” –Mark Twain One of the sad ironies in 21st century America is that there are so many who have to work, and want to work, but who are effectively pr...
Equitas Intern Plans to Bring Passion for Advocacy to Colorado’s Capitol Hill
BlogJack Murphy, a senior political science major at University of Denver, is interning with Equitas this fall. Learn more about Jack’s passion for advocacy and his plans for the future in the Q&A below. Are you a Colorado native? If not...
NDEAM: Recovery, Success, and the Value of Work
BlogAll feelings of Monday morning ambivalence (or reluctance) aside, work provides most people in the United States not just with a necessary source of income, but also with a sense of purpose and a compelling reason to get up in the mornin...
Public Health 101: Upstream Interventions
BlogWhat does it look like when we cultivate health and prioritize personal liberty? Embodying these values requires civic-mindedness and a public health approach, using preventative, cost-effective strategies to support mental, physical, an...
July is National Minority Mental Health Month
BlogEthnic, national, and gender minorities in the U.S. have worse mental health, and are incarcerated at a disproportionately higher rate, than the white cisgender majority. Though we are coming to the end of July’s National Minority Ment...
Meet Caleigh Cassidy: Equitas’ Summer Intern
BlogCaleigh Cassidy, a senior psychology major at Colorado College, is interning with Equitas this summer. Learn more about Caleigh in the Q&A below. 1.) Are you a Colorado native? If not, where are you from originally and what brought you h...
A Case for Supportive Housing
Blog, supportive housingBecause Abraham Lincoln’s Homestead Act empowered people, it freed people from the burden of poverty. It freed them to control their own destinies, to create their own opportunities, and to live the vision of the American dream. –George ...
2017’s Legislative Successes in Colorado
Blog2016-2017 was an important legislative year for the state of Colorado. Experts and leaders in behavioral health and criminal justice from all over the state—urban, rural, and frontier–were decisive, clear, and direct. With unique cross...
Colorado Takes a Meaningful Step Toward Health Care, Not Jail, for People in Crisis
Blog, Douglas K. Wilson, Patrick Fox, M.D.We may be in the second decade of the 21st century here in the Land of the Free, but all over the country our wealth of community resources somehow leads to handcuffs, an overencumbered justice system, and crowded jails and prisons. Poli...
Mental Health Awareness Every Day
BlogMay is National Mental Health Awareness Month. We are called to be mindful of our own mental health and to tune in to all those whose lives are touched by mental illness. Mental health and mental illness, directly and indirectly, affect ...
Equitas Hosts Two Regional Summits on Behavioral Health and Criminal Justice
Blog, In the News, Media Releases“You wouldn’t take a car to a dentist to get fixed. Why would you use a jail for mental health treatment?” asked Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid during Equitas’ Mid-Atlantic Summit. April 4, 2017 – (DENVER, COLO.) – March...
Course Corrections: Mid-Atlantic Summit on Behavioral Health & Criminal Justice
BlogAt the most recent Equitas Course Corrections Summit held on March 22 and 23, Sheriff Tom Dart from Cook County, Illinois, shared observations and troubling statistics regarding the incarceration of mentally ill people in both Chicag...
Equitas Travels to Bexar County
BlogIn January, Equitas—along with Colorado partners Hassan Latif and Sean Taylor of the Second Chance Center, Commissioner Nancy Jackson of Arapahoe County, and Sue Renner of the Merage Foundations—traveled to Bexar County, Texas, where...
Colorado Mental Health Hold Task Force Recommendations
Blog, Douglas K. Wilson, In the NewsSB 16-169, which would have extended the time individuals in mental health crisis could be held in jails was vetoed by Governor Hickenlooper in June 2016. “We agree that appropriate mental health facilities are not always readily avail...
Vital Investments: Access to Coverage and Care
BlogIn light of expected changes to healthcare delivery and access under the incoming presidential administration, the American Psychology Association, the Equitas Foundation, and a coalition of stakeholders have released a consensus letter ...
Severe Mental Illness and the Death Penalty
BlogIn Dee Hibbert-Jones & Nomi Talisman’s film, Last Day of Freedom, Manny Babbitt’s childhood traumatic brain injury goes untreated, and when he returns from the war in Vietnam with his poor mental health severely exacerbated, he conti...
Early Childhood Interventions
BlogThey say “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” With total costs of incarceration now estimated at trillions of dollars nationally and no sign of curing recidivism, improving behavioral health, or even deterring crime thr...
Colorado Course Corrections 2016
BlogOn August 31 and September 1 of 2016, over two hundred experts and leaders in behavioral health and criminal justice from all over the state gathered for Course Corrections: Colorado Summit on Behavioral Health and Criminal Justice. The...
Excellence in the Promotion of Health Equity Award Presented to Vincent Atchity at 2016 Public Health in the Rockies Conference
BlogOn Thursday, September 15, 2016, Dr. Vincent Atchity, Equitas Foundation Executive Director, was awarded the prestigious Excellence in the Promotion of Health Equity Award at the 2016 Public Health in the Rockies Conference Ignite & Awar...
Equitas Foundation Announces Colorado Summit on Behavioral Health and Criminal Justice
Blog, Douglas K. Wilson, Judge Steven Leifman, Media ReleasesIn collaboration with its partners, Equitas Foundation announces the Colorado Summit on Behavioral Health and Criminal Justice. At this event, 225 experts and advocates from all over the state will convene to identify best practices for ...
Thoughts on SB 169
BlogWhile SB16-169 awaits the Governor’s signature or veto, we continue locking people with mental health challenges in jails, whether or not they are criminals. Mental health deteriorates in jail. Sometimes legally innocent people kill th...
Equitas Foundation to Attend National Summit to Reduce the Number of People with Mental Illnesses in Jails
BlogEquitas Foundation will join county leaders and local policymakers representing 50 jurisdictions in 37 states in Washington, D.C., April 17-19 to address the overrepresentation of people with mental illnesses in jails across the country....
Colorado’s 18th Judicial District Wellness Court Forms Clinical Advisory Committee to Ensure Best Practices in Managing Mental Health and Substance Abuse Disorders
BlogEquitas Executive Director, Vincent Atchity, joins the newly formed Clinical Advisory Committee (CAC) established by Colorado’s 18th Judicial District Wellness Court. The committee is comprised of doctors, clinicians, and Problem Solvi...
Vincent Atchity Named Executive Director of Equitas Foundation
BlogEquitas Foundation announced today that Vincent Atchity has been named as the non-profit’s new Executive Director. In this role, Vincent will lead the strategic direction forC_TPLM30_66 the organization by catalyzing relationships, fac...
Judge Roxanne Bailin Reflects on Distinguished Career Leading Boulder County Diversion Reform Efforts
BlogBy Dunia Dickey Judge Roxanne Bailin’s distinguished career as a County Court Judge, a District Court Judge and Chief District Judge for the 20th Judicial District is impressive by any measure, but the accomplishment of which she is ...
In Partnership with the Office of Behavioral Health, Equitas Foundation Hosts Early Diversion Sequential Intercept Model Mapping “Train the Trainers” Workshop
BlogBy Dunia Dickey On August 4th & 5th, twenty-five participants from Colorado rural communities joined the Equitas Foundation, in partnership with the Office of Behavioral Health in the Colorado Department of Human Services, at the Early D...
Equitas Foundation Launches Diversion Power: Reengineering Care, Law Enforcement & Justice Systems
BlogDiversion Power is a new, innovative process that seeks to ignite communities to reengineer care, law enforcement and justice systems in rural Colorado with an overarching goal of impacting system changes for the fair treatment of those...
Launch of Stepping Up: A National Initiative to Reduce the Number of People with Mental Illnesses in Jails
BlogMay 6, 2015 — Recognizing the critical role local and state officials play in supporting change, the National Association of Counties (NACo), the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, and the American Psychiatric Foundation ...
S. 993 The Comprehensive Justice and Mental Health Act of 2015
BlogEquitas is very pleased to announce that Senator Franken (D-Minnesota) and Senator Cornyn (R-Texas) have introduced S. 993 The Comprehensive Justice and Mental Health Act of 2015 in the U.S. Senate. If passed, this legislation would d...
Sheehan’s Shooting: Is There a Better Way?
Blog, In the NewsBy Dunia Dickey Introduction This term, the Supreme Court Cheap Canada Goose Jackets Export Sales will decide a momentous case which highlights the prevalence of police shootings of individuals with mental illness. This case als...
Correcting Corrections
BlogBy Dunia Dickey No mention of Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC) Executive Director Rick Raemisch can be made without reference to the leadership and courage he has shown by dramatically reducing the number of prisoners kept in sol...
City Streets on a Rainy Night
BlogBy Dunia Dickey It’s nice to ride in the front of a police car, I thought to myself. It was a rainy Friday night around 10pm and I was going on a ride-along with Sergeant Layla DeStaffany, who is in charge of seven officers of the ...
Equitas Foundation Gathers
BlogAs mental health issues in the justice system command more and more attention in today’s Canada Goose Jackets Outlet headlines, the work of Equitas Foundation couldn’t be more timely or relevant. Memorial Day weekend of 2014 saw the in...