Jan.12: Webinar on how cities can comply with Americans with Disabilities Act

From the National League of Cities’ blog:

On Thursday, Jan. 12, the National League of Cities’ Institute of Youth, Education, and Families will host a webinar on how cities can comply with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements and improve outcomes for young adults with mental illness.

Nationwide, cities and their partners continue to experiment with ways to avoid taking young adults to jail, especially in cases where mental health or substance disorders lead to behavior that draws the attention of police officers and community members concerned about public safety. Absent these experiments, some people with serious mental illness frequently get arrested and go to jail, often repeatedly. Once in jail, individuals whose offenses stem from mental illness stay in jail longer, and during those jail stays, their condition may worsen. Meanwhile, most jurisdictions typically cannot receive Medicaid reimbursement for expensive and limited mental health services received in jail. Read more.

To learn more about how cities such as San Antonio, Texas and Seattle seek to meet the ADA obligation by collaborating with mental health departments and providers to divert people with mental illness away from jail and into community-based services, register here for an informative and frank discussion at 1:00 p.m. ET (12:00 p.m. CST) on Jan. 12.