The Salt Lake County Jail Resource Re-entry program (JRRP) is a brand-new initiative aimed at helping recently released inmates gain access to the resources and support they need to be able to reintegrate into society productively and safely. Using strategic partnerships and evidence-based programming to find out which obstacles inmates face, the JRRP assists with everything from food, water, and transportation, to connecting inmates with physical and mental health options.
The JRRP is partnering with the Kem & Carolyn Gardner Mental Health Crisis Care Center to help inmates find easy access to mental health resources that will allow them to stabilize, stay healthy, and regain self-sufficiency. "What a great partnership this will be," says Kele Griffone, Division Director at Salt Lake County Criminal Justice. "Whatever resource or help our clients need, we will be able to provide it to them. It will give them a positive second chance."
“With the help of therapists, community members, and organizations like Huntsman Mental Health Institute and the Mental Health Crisis Care Center, we can create better outcomes for everyone.”
Kele Griffone, Division Director at Salt Lake County Criminal Justice
In many carceral systems throughout the United States, recently discharged inmates are released from custody back into a system they are deeply unprepared to navigate. Whether it is the confusing bureaucracy of the court system and the healthcare system, the difficulty of finding stable employment, or the complexity of managing ongoing mental health issues, many people have so much stacked against them that they end up back where they started. The Jail Resource Re-entry program is being designed to remedy these issues.
"We are looking for every option available to us to help recently released inmates navigate back into the community in a way that is safe and productive," says Griffone. "With the help of therapists, community members, and organizations like Huntsman Mental Health Institute and the Mental Health Crisis Care Center, we can create better outcomes for everyone."
About the Kem & Carolyn Gardner Mental Health Crisis Care Center
When the doors of the Kem and Carolyn Gardner Crisis Care Center open in 2024, it will be a welcoming place for all adults. The Center will help individuals de-escalate, stabilize, and connect to community resources catered to their individual mental health needs. The Center will help people facing a psychiatric crisis get on the path to mental wellness by unifying critical crisis services and many community resources in one easy-to-access location. The building design and operations will ensure patients and their families feel welcome, respected, and secure throughout every step of their care.
Researchers will work alongside clinicians, patients and their families to develop evidence-based best practices for treatment and care and develop new approaches for helping people. It will also be a site for training future generations of crisis care professionals including social workers, nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists, and many more. Learn more.