Solano County Reentry Council Meets Jan. 12

The Public Safety Realignment enacted in 2011 is a major effort by the State of California to reduce prison overcrowding, save the state money, and improve post incarceration outcomes.

This is to be accomplished through expanding local responsibility for custody and control of specified offenders, with funding to support counties’ supervision and provision of services needed for this population.

Solano County’s Community Corrections Partnership (CCP) –  whose membership includes Solano County Superior Court judges, the Solano County District Attorney, the Solano County Public Defender, the Solano County Sheriff, the Solano County Health and Social Services’ Director, the Workforce Investment Board Director and representatives from local police departments and the Solano County Reentry Council – is chaired by the Solano County Chief Probation Officer.

This body is taking action to assure the success of the local implementation of Public Safety Realignment.

The CCP and the Solano Reentry Council recognize that a large number of persons in jails and prisons suffer from mental disorders serious enough to require psychiatric treatment.

Addressing the mental health care needs of this population is of paramount importance to local efforts to maintain public safety and to empower their successful transitions from custody settings to the community.

The Solano Reentry Council will focus on mental health issues at its January 12th meeting featuring a presentation by Dr. Terry A. Kupers, a nationally and internationally recognized expert in the field of correctional mental health care.  The meeting will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. in the first floor multi-purpose room of the County Administration Center, 675 Texas St. in Fairfield.  The meeting is open to all interested persons.

Dr. Kupers, M.D., M.S.P., is Institute Professor at the Wright Institute, practices psychiatry in Oakland and consults with various public mental health centers and at correctional mental health sites.  He provides expert testimony as well as staff training.  He has served as consultant to the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division.

He has published extensively and is a Contributing Editor of Correctional Mental Health Report. At the 2005 American Psychiatric Association meeting, Dr. Kupers received the Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).   Dialoging with Dr. Kupers will be representatives from the Solano County Probation Department, the Solano County Sheriff’s Office, Solano County Health and Social Services and NAMI.

For more information about the Solano County Reentry Council go to www.solanocountyreentryresources.org.