“We feel that at the very least, the Dane County Board of Supervisors should postpone making a final decision on funding to the Jail until this study is complete.”
Dear Dane County Board of Supervisors,
The Recovery Coalition of Dane County (RCDC) is a local group of behavioral healthcare providers, consumers, and stakeholders. The mission of the RCDC is to strengthen individuals, and communities through a collaborative network that support Mental Health and Substance Use Recovery. Part of our work is to advocate for systems change to improve access and quality of behavioral health services.
We feel strongly that people living with behavioral health issues should be treated within the community, and not only within the criminal justice system. We recognize the complexity of the situation and appreciate the work of our County Board Supervisors and your interest in the safety, racial equity, and substance use recovery needs of our community. We are concerned about racial inequities in our community and in our jail system. Therefore, we believe that these issues need to be addressed in the community and our provider network is interested in working with the Dane County Board of Supervisors to make sure community-based services are accessible and address the needs of our community.
Members of the RCDC have participated in the Dane County behavioral health focus groups facilitated by Public Consulting Group (PCG) Health. We expect that the results of this study will provide further clarity on the need for community-based alternatives to Jail. We feel that at the very least, the Dane County Board of Supervisors should postpone making a final decision on funding to the Jail until this study is complete.
We do not support plans to spend 148 million dollars on the Dane County Jail. We understand renovations are needed to improve the safety of those currently in Jail. We support these updates being made, and would like to see a significant decrease in the number of people sentenced to jail time. We ask that additional funds be allocated to community-based services that promote behavioral health recovery. These services will not only be cost-effective, they will also improve the quality of life for individuals, and our community at large.
Thank you for taking the time to discuss alternatives to this proposed budget amendment. Please let us know if it would be helpful to provide any additional information. Again, know that we appreciate the work of our County Board Supervisors, and your interest in the safety, racial equity, and recovery needs of our community.
Sincerely,
The Recovery Coalition of Dane County
*RCDC acknowledges and respects that individual members of the coalition may not support this position.
