![]() ![]() Restorative Care Villages will offer a comprehensive approach to addressing interrelated issues that lead to domestic violence, substance abuse, mental illness, unemployment, and homelessness. I’m confident that the collective expertise of the departments and other stakeholders called upon to collaborate in this motion will help guide the Board as we take our next steps.”Īs the County moves ahead with its plan to close Men’s Central Jail, it is also looking to reinvest any savings from closing the facility towards health-based responses that improve both health and public safety outcomes for our communities, such as prioritizing funding for Restorative Care Villages at County health campuses. “Given the dramatic reduction in the jail population and the large remaining population of men and women with serious mental illness whose needs would be better met in a treatment environment, it’s time to take a fresh look at our options. “This is another very important step in achieving the Board’s ‘care first, jail last’ approach to community health and safety,” said Supervisor Kuehl. Today, the Board of Supervisors approved this Board motion, which was authored by Supervisor Solis and co-authored by Supervisor Sheila Kuehl. In recognition of the changing nature of LA County’s jail population and community demands to defund jail systems in favor of investments in community health and safety, Supervisor Solis read in a Board motion at the June 23 Board meeting calling for a plan to close Men’s Central Jail within the year. Despite this decrease, the population of people with serious mental illness in County jails has only modestly dropped from 5,300 to 4,500, and they now make up nearly half of the incarcerated population. Since March, various County departments and community-based organizations have worked to reduce the number of people in County jails from 17,000 to 12,000 due to COVID-19. Providing more permanent supportive housing units where individuals can receive community-based mental health care will give people hope for a new beginning.” We also recognize that many in our justice-involved population lack access to affordable housing and wraparound services. People are not made whole locked up in a decrepit cell. “Closing Men’s Central Jail will restore dignity to our communities. “LA County is prioritizing our ‘care first, jail last’ approach to criminal justice to demonstrate our commitment to racial and economic justice,” said Supervisor Solis. Solis, that would initiate a plan to close Men’s Central Jail within the year and fast track preparations for permanent supportive housing units at Restorative Care Villages situated on County health campuses. In a significant step towards a ‘care first, jail last’ approach to community health and public safety, today the Board of Supervisors approved two separate, but related Board motions, both authored by Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L.
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