Sheriff Kincaid monitoring inmates in detention center
(8-11-17) I am amazed. In less than two years, Fairfax County, Virginia, has gone from showing little interest in jail diversion to being spotlighted as a national model.
Bravo! That’s a true accomplishment. Still, there is more to do but let’s focus first on the positive.
Nine Fairfax officials have been asked to speak in September at a Data Driven Justice and Behavioral Health Design Institute meeting in Rockville, Maryland, about how the county has successfully implemented its Diversion First program. The meeting is being sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Laura and John Arnold Foundation (LJAF) and the National Association of Counties (NACo). It’s designed to help community leaders from across the nation learn how to create jail diversion programs by inviting those who already have established successful programs to share their knowledge.
Sheriff Stacey Kincaid deserves much of the credit for bringing jail diversion to Fairfax. After the 2015 tragic death of Natasha McKenna in the Fairfax Adult Detention Center, the sheriff traveled to Bexar County, Texas, to learn about its diversion program and returned determined to establish something similar. (Compare her commendable actions to the shameful response by officials at the Hampton Roads Regional jail, where Jamycheal Mitchell literally starved to death. They insisted they hadn’t done anything wrong and kept information from the public.)
In the county’s official press release, posted at the end of this blog, Sheriff Kincaid shares credit.
“A primary reason we have come so far so fast is that we have 180 stakeholders, including law enforcement; mental health providers, advocates and consumers; county government leaders; defense attorneys and prosecutors; and magistrates and judges. We cannot and do not solve problems by operating in silos.”
That’s certainly true, but the main diversion champions in Fairfax have been the sheriff, Board of Supervisor Chair Sharon Bulova, Supervisor John Cook, Police Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr., Program Director Laura Yager, and several Community Services Board leaders, such as retired Air Force General Gary Ambrose, Tisha Deeghan, and Daryl Washington.
While I’m ecstatic about what has been accomplished, Fairfax needs to take further steps.
UPDATE: On Friday afternoon (8-4), a spokesperson for Rep. Tim Murphy (R.-Pa.) issued the following statement about Dr. McCance-Katz’s confirmation.
