MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTION SERVICES
Addiction and mental illness are public health issues, not moral failures. But instead of offering treatment, our system often defaults to jails and emergency rooms — the most expensive and least effective response possible. A justice system cannot function when it is forced to act as a mental health system by default.
THE PROBLEM
70% of jail inmates struggle with addiction or mental health conditions.
Police are often the first responders to mental health crises, even though they are not trained medical professionals.
People experiencing addiction or crisis are jailed instead of treated, leading to a cycle of relapse, incarceration, and homelessness.
Rural communities have little to no access to crisis care, detox beds, or counseling — making jail the only available “system.”
We don’t have a crime problem — we have a treatment access problem that masquerades as crime.
OUR PLAN FOR REAL SUPPORT-BASED SAFETY
We will build a care-first system that treats people before crisis turns into incarceration:
24/7 Crisis Response Teams — Trained mental-health professionals dispatched instead of police where safe and appropriate.
Community-Based Treatment Centers — Scaled funding for local detox, rehabilitation, and therapy hubs — especially in underserved and rural counties.
Integrated Court Treatment Diversion — Judges can refer eligible individuals into treatment with automatic record relief upon completion.
Housing + Treatment Continuum — Expand recovery housing to prevent treatment drop-off due to homelessness.
Telehealth Expansion for Rural Communities — Connect small towns and reservation areas with state-licensed counselors.
Ban Jail-Only “Treatment” — End the use of incarceration as a substitute for medical care in mental-health and addiction scenarios.
WHY IT MATTERS
Treatment costs less than jail. Support reduces crime more than punishment. When people have access to help, communities become safer not through fear, but through healing.
“Handcuffs are not healthcare. We don’t fix pain with punishment.”