Virginia Archives - Read. Think. Act.

AARP – We Want to Know – Voter Engagement Program

(Oct. 11, 2017) Catherine Read talks with AARP Community Ambassador Berniece Courtenay about a new program called “We Want to Know” which was created to foster greater voter engagement. Virginia is one of only two states with an off-year Governor’s race in 2017. Along with Lt. Governor and Attorney General, there are also 100 seats in the House of Delegates on the ballot this year.

Berniece Courtenay talks about her journey to becoming an AARP Ambassador and the many volunteer opportunities available right here in our local community. Many people have a very narrow and one dimensional view of the AARP organization. There are thousands of AARP volunteers spread out across the country, and many volunteers here in Virginia. One of the core missions of AARP is education, and related to that is advocacy around issues affecting their members.

The AARP We Want to Know voter engagement program is using social media to encourage voters to reach out to the candidates running for election in 2017 to ask questions about the issues they care about. They are using Twitter to encourage people to submit questions to @AARPVa and also their Facebook page to highlight their “Flat People” device for encouraging people to write down their questions for candidates and post them on social media platforms. They are using the hashtag #WW2K

Catherine points out the reluctance some people have of asking their question in a public forum even when the opportunity is created, as it was during the NoVIE Forum for both gubernatorial candidates. Those specific voter questions are central to making candidates aware of what a particular community, or region, is concerned about. It also highlights very specific issues that may not be part of a candidate’s talking points or stump speeches.

According to Virginia’s AARP State Director, Jim Dau, “We Want to Know amplifies the voices of Virginia voters so that candidates have to listen – and respond – to their concerns.”

Virginia voters can send their questions to candidates via @AARPVa on Twitter, post questions to AARP’s Facebook page, visit the We Want to Know – Virginia website and also find links to statewide candidates social media pages at http://states.aarp.org/va-candidate-links/

by Catherine Read Leave a Comment

Lewinsville Faith in Action – Inside Scoop

(Oct. 9, 2017) Catherine Read talks with John A. “Jack” Calhoun and Cindy Speas of Lewinsville Faith in Action. This group was formed following the Women’s March in Washington, DC, on January 21, 2017. Within the community of Lewinsville Presbyterian Church in McLean, VA, people came together to talk about the issues they felt strongly about. The group grew from that first meeting of 25 people to more than double that number now. They also formed five “Issue Groups” to more specifically focus their advocacy and activism around the passions of those involved. Those groups include: work on elections of progressive candidates at all levels of government; non-partisan redistricting and the end of gerrymandering; support for immigrants and refugees; gun violence issues; and healthcare and environmental issues.

Jack Calhoun, a graduate of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, has spent much of his career in policy development from federal work under several different administrations to state and local work around the country. He’s written three books, including his most recent Policy Walking, and continues to work as a consultant, keynote speaker and blogger at www.HopeMatters.org

Cindy Speas has a Masters Degree in History and spent a number of years teaching Government in Virginia public schools before turning her attention to building a regional donor registry in the DC Metro area. Although she officially retired in 2015, she remains active in the community and has taken a leadership role in building the Lewinsville Faith in Action group to include people outside their faith community as well. They collaborate and coordinate with a number of faith based progressive organizations both locally here in Virginia and nationally.

Cindy quotes their mission statement from memory: “Informed by faith and fact, Lewinsville Faith in Action, in partnership with others, will work to advocate for political, social, economic and environmental policies that are based on justice and fairness.”

Jack and Cindy make a powerful case for their activism based on the theological imperative of the Christian faith. That includes honoring and welcoming people of other faiths, such as our Muslim brothers and sisters who live in our communities and in our country. They speak in terms of how a beloved community became inspired by the Women’s March to commit to a course of action that is both transformational (providing opportunities for profound changes as individuals) and transactional (providing opportunities to live our values through action.) What began with meetings and writing postcards now includes showing up to direct actions at Dulles Airport and the Justice Department and the monthly vigil at 10 am on the 14th of every month in front of the National Rifle Association headquarters in Fairfax, VA.

They welcome individuals who want to be a part of the Lewinsville Faith in Action and you can reach out to Jack by email at [email protected] and to Cindy at [email protected]

by Catherine Read Leave a Comment

Girls on the Run Northern Virginia – Katey Comerford

(Sept. 13, 2017) Catherine Read talks with Katey Comerford, Executive Director of Girls on the Run – Northern Virginia (GOTRNOVA). This program is designed as a curriculum based program for girls in the 3rd to 8th grades and is largely a school based program reliant on a network of volunteer coaches. GOTRNOVA is one of 200 independent councils under the umbrella of Girls on the Run International and serves the Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun, Arlington & Alexandria area with 140 participating schools.

While running is a component of the program, the main focus is to inspire girls to be joyful, healthy and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum which creatively integrates running. The program came about as a way of addressing issues that often undermine girls as they enter puberty – body positivity, healthy self image, confidence, self respect, peer pressure – and addresses the skill development needed to navigate the transition from girlhood to their teenage years.

The program is ten weeks long in the Fall and in the Spring, and meets twice a week either before or after school for an hour to an hour and a half. Volunteer coaches who have been trained in the curriculum, conduct the meetings. Every year 500 adult volunteers step up to complete the training and to conduct the meetings over the course of the ten week program. And while there is a fee associated with the program, GOTRNOVA also provides scholarship assistance for those with financial need. The program culminates in a 5K run bringing girls and their families together at different venues in Northern Virginia. Corporate sponsorships make events of this size possible.

In addition to the school based programs, there are also some community based programs for girls that take the program out of the school setting and closer to where they live. There are some exploratory steps being taken to roll out programs at area apartment complexes as well. Transportation can often be a challenge to participating in before and after school programs, so this model will address bringing the program to where the girls are and offering weekend meetings as a way to build greater participation.

The Heart & Sole program for girls in Middle School focuses on the issues that are unique to girls navigating puberty and the social, emotional and physiological changes that go along with that. The program gives them a safe space with a trained adult leader to look at ways to build healthy relationships, to strengthen their confidence and to build a positive self image.

You can follow Girls on the Run – Northern Virginia on Facebook, on Twitter at @GOTRNOVA or find ways to volunteer or support the program at www.GOTRNOVA.org

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Fairfax County Special Education PTA – Your Need to Know

(Sept. 6, 2017) Catherine Read talks with Diane Cooper Gould, President of the Fairfax County Special Education Parent Teacher Association (SEPTA), and Joanne Walton who is a SEPTA Delegate to the Fairfax County Council of PTAs (FCCPTA) and also a founding member of SEPTA. The Fairfax County SEPTA launched in April of 2017 and is an additional support organization for existing PTAs throughout the county.

Diane Cooper Gould is the parent of two special needs children. A conversation with someone from the Arlington SEPTA inspired her to start a similar organization for Fairfax County. Joanne Walton, also the parent of a special needs student, joined this start-up effort to better support both parents and teachers. Fairfax County is the 10th largest school district in the nation and over 25,000 students currently have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), others have 504 plans, and some students have not yet been identified as having special needs. The goal is to assist the families of special needs children from their infant-toddler years right through to their high school graduation.

A key focus of SEPTA is recognizing the importance of the “T” for Teacher. They welcome greater teacher input on what is needed in schools and classrooms. Advocacy at school board budget hearings for necessary funds is also a key focus since teacher retention is a challenge. Special Education teachers in Fairfax County stay for an average of 3 years. Better funding and raising teacher pay is needed to support the special needs community in the county. There are teacher shortages in general in Fairfax County schools, and there continues to be unfilled special education teacher positions as the new school year begins.

The collaborative aspect of SEPTA includes offering support to parents through awareness of other organizations offering support within the disability community – such as Parents of Autistic Children (POAC), Decoding Dyslexia Virginia, the Arc of Northern Virginia and programs through the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia. There is a page on the SEPTA website specifically for support groups and that list continues to grow. As the 2017-18 school year begins, the Fairfax County SEPTA will be focused on raising awareness of their organization and how parents and teachers can find the resources they need through this new organization.

SEPTA has a Facebook page and their website can be found at www.FairfaxCountySEPTA.org

by Catherine Read 2 Comments

VA Governor Candidate Ralph Northam – NoVIE Forum Falls Church

(Sept 1 2017) Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam was the first gubernatorial candidate to speak at a forum hosted by The Northern Virginia Idea Exchange (NoVIE). This coalition is made up of non-profit leaders in the Northern Virginia area. This event was held on Friday, September 1st, as the first of two forums at the James Lee Community Center in Falls Church, VA. Ed Gillespie will address this group on Thursday, September 14th.

Karen Cleveland, President and CEO of Leadership Fairfax, is the moderator of these two forums. After opening remarks from Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, he was asked questions that had been submitted in advance via email. Following those questions posed by the moderator, audience members were invited to line up at a microphone placed near the front of the stage to ask other questions. Questions came from individuals representing a wide range of non-profit organizations in the Northern Virginia area on subjects ranging from affordable housing and education to medicaid waivers, the school-to-prison pipeline, and the Dillon Rule.

Dr. Northam, a pediatric neurologist, spoke of his long term commitment to public service through collaboration with non-profits such as the Edmarc Hospice for Children where he has served as medical director for 19 years. His wife, Pam Northam, is an elementary school teacher who also works on environmental issues through the non-profit Lynnhaven River NOW. He addressed the importance of the work non-profits do, Virginia’s reliance on those services and the advocacy needed for better public policy, and pledged to continue working with non-profit organizations across the Commonwealth.

This 30 minute video includes some of the remarks made by Lt. Gov. Northam in the hour long forum. While it does not include the questions, his responses indicate the nature of the question. Some of the participating non-profits include Britepaths, Cornerstones, BRAWS, The Literacy Council of Northern Virginia, Friends of Guest House, and many others.

Virginia is one of only two states in the United States with an “off year” Governor’s race that takes place the year following a presidential election. It is the last state to have a one term (4 year) governorship. Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017.

by Catherine Read Leave a Comment

Julie Jakopic – An Interview with the Chair of Virginia’s List

(Aug 30, 2017) Catherine Read interviews Julie Jakopic, Chair of Virginia’s List, a political action committee (PAC) whose mission is to support progressive pro-choice women candidates running for office in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The organization was originally formed in 2015 as Women Leaders of Virginia. During that election cycle, women candidates running for the House of Delegates received financial support for their general election campaigns in the very first year of the organization’s fundraising efforts.

In early 2017, the organization rebranded as Virginia’s List. They followed the branding model of other very successful organizations such as EMILY’s List, Annie’s List of Texas and Lillian’s List of North Carolina. They also committed to helping women fund primary races when they are running against one or more men in their own party. This is very much the core mission of EMILY’s List which is actually an acronym for Early Money Is Like Yeast (EMILY). The women who serve on the Virginia’s List Board (which includes host Catherine Read) are from various parts of Virginia and many have been candidates themselves. One of the founders of Virginia’s List, Amy Laufer of Charlottesville, is currently a Charlottesville City School Board Member and also a candidate for Charlottesville City Council.

In 2015, Julie Jakopic was a candidate in a five candidate Democratic primary for the 45th District House seat. Running in a field that included herself and four men, she came in third with 23.3 percent of the vote. Understanding that women were being defeated at the primary stage, Virginia’s List doubled down on funding the primary campaigns of many of the Democratic women running for office in 2017. There is an unprecedented 43 Democratic women running for a seat in the 100 person Virginia House of Delegates. Many were in primary contests and some of those races included more than one woman running for the nomination.

There is a process Virginia’s List has created for vetting candidates for endorsement and funding that includes a Candidate Questionnaire (CQ) and a number of other factors including their fundraising, doors knocked and the voting history of the districts in which they are running. The public has access to some of this candidate information through the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP.org) which posts information about money raised and voting history of the district.

Virginia’s List works collaboratively with a number of other organizations including Emerge Virginia, which recruits and trains progressive women candidates interested in running for office. Each of these organizations is a crucial part of fielding successful women candidates. Virginia has a low percentage of women in our legislature, less than 20%, and we’ve never had a woman Governor, Lt. Governor or U.S. Senator. Only one woman has ever served in a statewide office, Mary Sue Terry, who was Attorney General for two terms from 1985 to 1993 and who co-founded one of the earliest women’s political candidate organizations in Virginia, The Farm Team.

Women bring a different lived experience and perspective to many of the issues being addressed through public policy making – paid leave, child care regulation, campus sexual assault, violence against women, disability benefits, payday lending, public assistance for children and families, medicaid expansion, education policy – and much more. Men continue to predominate in every branch of government in the Commonwealth of Virginia and Virginia’s List is committed to putting more women into elected office who are representative of the people who actually live in our communities.

Find more information at www.VirginiasList.com or on Facebook and @VAListWomen on Twitter.

by Catherine Read Leave a Comment

Emerge Virginia – Training Democratic Women Candidates – Inside Scoop

(Aug 21 2017) Catherine Read talks with Emerge Virginia Board Members the Hon. Kate Hanley and Atima Omara about this affiliate of Emerge America. Emerge Virginia is a program designed to recruit and train Democratic women who are interested in running for office – local offices as well as statewide and federal offices. They do not endorse candidates or fund their campaigns, but they work in cooperation with Virginia’s List which does both.

In 2017, Emerge Virginia has 24 alumnae running for office – in both the House of Delegates and in local offices like Charlottesville City Council (Amy Laufer) and Fairfax County School Board (Karen Keys-Gamarra.) In total, there are 43 Democratic women running for the Virginia House of Delegates, a record number of women candidates. This effort in recruiting and training women is in response to the dismal level of representation of women in Virginia’s General Assembly – where they make up only 17% of the legislators. Virginia has never had a woman in the office of Governor, Lt. Governor or U.S. Senator. Only ONE WOMAN has ever been elected to statewide office – Mary Sue Terry was Attorney General from 1986 to 1993. She is the only woman to ever run for Governor and she lost to George Allen.

The Honorable Kate Hanley, Chair of the Emerge Virginia Board, started out on the Fairfax County School Board, was elected to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors from the Providence District in 1986, and represented that district until being elected Chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 1995, where she served until 2003. Governor Tim Kaine appointed her as Secretary of the Commonwealth in 2006 where she served until 2010. She has been instrumental in launching and building Emerge Virginia to serve women running at every level – including the election of Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid in 2013, the first woman to serve in that position in the Fairfax County’s 275 year history.

Atima Omara distinguished herself early in her political career by running and winning a national campaign to be the President of the Young Democrats of America in 2013– the first Virginian to hold that office and the first African-American woman to hold that office in it’s 81 year history. That same year, she made Jet Magazine’s 40 under 40 and Ebony Magazine’s Power 100. A native of Richmond with a BA from the University of Virginia and a Masters Degree in Public Administration from George Mason University, she is on the Board of Directors of Emerge Virginia as well as Virginia’s List. She is a regular speaker/panelist at NetRoots Nation each year, and a sought after political media commentator at major news outlets across the country.

Emerge Virginia has a powerhouse Executive Director, Julie Copeland, and distinguished Board of Directors that includes women from every part of Virginia. They include First Lady of Virginia Dorothy McAuliffe, Delegate Kathleen Murphy, Maggi Luca, Doris Crouse-Mays, Cianti Stewart-Reid, Gaylene Kanoyton, Sandra Brandt, Alexsis Rodgers and the late Mary Ann Hovis. Every Board Member has brought their unique talents and expertise to the task of increasing the number of elected Democratic women in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Mary Ann Hovis was instrumental in helping to launch the DPVA’s Pat Jenning’s Project, and regularly opened her home to both Democratic women candidates and nearly every other Democratic candidate running in Virginia. Mary Ann was the daughter of Congressman Pat Jennings of Marion, VA. She was a graduate of Radford College and a long term member of the Radford University Board of Visitors where she served two terms as Rector. In 2000 she received the University’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Her commitment to electing more Democrats in Virginia is legendary.

There is much work to be done in supporting women running for public office in Virginia at every level. Emerge Virginia is focused on finding women in this Commonwealth with the passion for public office at every level of elected office. If you want to be a part of this movement, find out how you can help at www.EmergeVA.org

by Catherine Read Leave a Comment

Fairfax County Public Schools – Back to School Special 2017

(Aug 14, 2017) Students return to Fairfax County Public Schools on Monday, August 28, 2017. In advance of this pre-Labor Day start date, host Catherine Read speaks with three members of the 12 person school board and the new Superintendent Dr. Scott Brabrand. Ryan McElveen and Pat Hynes were elected to the FCPS School Board in 2011, Dalia Palchik was elected in 2015, and Dr. Brabrand returned to Fairfax County as the new Superintendent on July 10, 2017.

In the first segment Ryan McElveen, school board member At Large, talks about his path to the school board at the age of 25 after graduate school at Columbia University. He went through the FCPS school system himself, attending George C. Marshall High School and then on to the University of Virginia. He is not an educator by profession. He brought ideas based on what he believes the school system could improve to create a better educational experience for the students. He has also been a staunch advocate for the rights of LGBTQ students and staff, and last month made his views clear on the renaming of JEB Stuart High School. Ryan is committed to transparency in process and has connected with students across the county using social media tools like Facebook and Twitter. The 270K followers of @RyanLMcElveen count on Ryan to be the first point of credible notice of snow closures.

Patricia “Pat” Hynes represents the Hunter Mill magisterial district of Fairfax County where her own two children attended the public schools there. After attending the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University Law School, she switched careers to become a teacher herself and still teaches in the classroom in Arlington County today. Pat is focused on creating greater equity in our school system. Fairfax County is the 10th largest school district in the United States, and in this county of 1.1 million people, there is a great deal of cultural and economic diversity that impacts student outcomes in the classroom. Finding ways of closing some of the existing achievement and opportunity gaps is a priority for her. She is also focused on investing more in renewable and sustainable energy for our schools and reducing energy consumption and the FCPS carbon footprint.

In the third segment, Dalia Palchik talks about her career switch from global micro-finance to education, where she is the second teacher to serve on the FCPS School Board. Dalia immigrated to the United States from Argentina at the age of 6 and learned English as a second language while attending Fairfax County Public Schools. A graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology – one of the top ranked high schools in the nation – she went on to study cultural anthropology at Tufts University and to travel extensively. She is a language teacher, and an native Spanish speaker, who is focused on finding ways to serve the diverse student population in the county and their families. Dalia represents the Providence Magisterial District and within that district there many families from different countries who are working to understand their role in their children’s education. She talks about the new public bus program that allows middle school and high school students to get a free bus pass and how that could be expanded to include parents who also face transportation challenges in engaging with their children’s schools.

Dr. Scott Brabrand is returning to Fairfax County from his recent position as Superintendent of the Lynchburg (VA) City School System. He switched careers after being a classroom volunteer and discovering that education is really his great passion. He served in many capacities in Fairfax County Schools from a Social Studies teacher at Herndon High School in the mid 1990s, to principal of Fairfax High School from 2005 to 2009, and then on to Cluster Assistant Superintendent. In each role, he has made measurable improvements in student outcomes. He talks about his emphasis on having a growth mindset in education. While acknowledging that testing can’t be entirely eliminated, he is focused on moving education toward critical thinking skills and fostering a greater engagement between students and their educational experience in the classroom.

The early start date of Aug. 28, 2017, has been years in the making as the FCPS School Board has lobbied the Virginia Legislature to grant an exception to the “Kings Dominion Law” that keeps schools from opening until after Labor Day.

This year, on Tuesday, Aug. 29th, there is a special election to fill a FCPS School Board vacancy. Voters will go to their regular polling places – many of those at schools in Fairfax County – while school is in session this time. This is an important election and Fairfax County residents are encouraged to mark their calendars and plan on voting.

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American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land – Monica Hesse

(Aug 2017) So much of life is intangible, and places don’t feel like they’re disappearing to the people who are living there.

This review is an ode to independent bookstores, journalists who write books, rainy vacation days and to Virginia.

My husband Tom and I like to come back to Chincoteague Island as often as we can. We eloped here in July of 2011 and we continue to come back because it is a peaceful place that speaks to us. We both grew up in small rural communities – Tom in NW Georgia and me in SW Virginia. There is something about the timelessness of this place that author Monica Hesse captures in this book about Accomack County on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

I likely would not have encountered this book except I am drawn to independent bookstores like a moth to a flame. Sundial Books on the Main Street of Chincoteague Island was featuring this book on a display that faced the front door. Perhaps it’s the cover photo that is vaguely reminiscent of the cover of Hillbilly Elegy that drew me to the book. The well written synopsis on the inside of the dust jacket and knowing it was written by a journalist with The Washington Post made it a “must have” a minute after I picked it up.

The reason I don’t mind rainy days on vacation is because they are meant for reading. In fact, I love a rainy vacation day because I rarely ever have the luxury of reading a book from start to finish in a single day. And here I was, sitting in Accomack County reading a book about the arson that gripped this rural community for five and a half months in 2012 and 2013. Over eighty-five fires, multiple fires a night, that stretched the capacity of the all volunteer fire departments to cover a rural county where they identified 1,400 abandoned buildings that were all possible targets.

I couldn’t put this book down. Monica Hesse did such wonderful research on every aspect of this story. The history of Accomack County is one I did not know, despite being a native Virginian whose own ancestors go back to the 1600s – just like many families who are central to this story. Many of us know our own stories and the stories of where we come from, but learning about the other histories of Virginia is endlessly fascinating to me. Beth Macy, a journalist with The Roanoke Times made the story of the furniture industry in southern Virginia equally captivating in her book Factory Man. I hope this is a trend that continues among journalists who see the potential for a good story to become a book of real substance.

There is a true art to writing non-fiction that reads like a novel. American Fire is well written and the structure of the story is what keeps you turning the pages to find out more. It’s about so much more than the story of the arsons and the arsonists. It’s about a way of life that most of us cannot relate to. I loved the designations of Born Heres, Come Heres and Been Heres. I get that. Her specificity of this being a “close knit community” rather than a “small community” is also important to the story because the county is large but sparsely populated.

One hundred years ago, Accomack County was the richest rural county in the nation. The railroad and potato farming created wealth and jobs for the people who lived here. The advent of the automobile was the beginning of the end of that boom time. Now chicken farming is the main industry here with Perdue and Tysons being the major employers here in the county. The population is aging and young people leave to find better opportunities on the mainland. This is the economic story of towns and counties all over America who have seen the rise and decline of industries that built and sustained communities but can sustain them no longer.

I highly recommend this book. Hesse draws you into the stories of people in a singular moment in their county’s history. While the main protagonists of this book are the arsonists, the other people central to this story are authentically drawn as well. Her research is meticulous and thorough, her end notes generous to all those who made this book possible. She is a good storyteller and this story was crying out to be told.

by Catherine Read Leave a Comment

Fairfax County’s Diversion First Program with Laura Yager

(Aug. 2, 2017) Catherine Read talks with Laura Yager, of the Fairfax County Executive’s Office, about the Diversion First Program here in Fairfax County, Virginia. The initiative grew out of collaborative efforts among the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Department, Fairfax County Police and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisor’s Chairman, Sharon Bulova.

In 2015, Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid organized an exploratory trip to Bexar County, Texas, to learn more about their model of Crisis Intervention Training (CIT). After 26 years in the Sheriff’s Department prior to her election, Sheriff Kincaid was struck by how many of those incarcerated in the county’s jail were suffering from mental health issues. Over a period of years, local jails in Virginia and across the country have become de facto psychiatric facilities. That presents situations for those who work in these facilities for which they have not been trained.

Crisis Intervention Training has been designed to help diffuse and de-escalate situations where law enforcements comes into contact with those in a mental health crisis, as well as those in the Intellectual and Developmental Disability community who may have trouble processing instructions or interpreting the actions of law enforcement officers. It’s not always evident to officers that someone they are engaged with is on the Autism spectrum or has a developmental disability. Families with older children in the disability community now have the option of requesting a CIT trained officer when they call 911 to help with a domestic situation where there is a possibility of harm to the child or to others in the home. Anyone phoning 911 can make that same request. CIT training is provided on a regular basis to the county’s law enforcement personnel to increase the percentage of officers on the force who have these skills.

The Merrifield Crisis Response Center (MCRC) was launched as part of this new effort to direct people who interact with law enforcement to the appropriate services. The MCRC is overseen by the county’s Community Services Board (CSB) and the goal it to triage what is causing the need for officer intervention and whether the person in custody needs to be in a hospital, a mental health care facility or should be taken to jail. There is still widespread stigma surrounding mental health issues and substance abuse. Too often the reluctance to acknowledge a problem leads to a lack of appropriate treatment and subsequent interaction with law enforcement. Laura Yager talked about a new program in Fairfax County called the Turning Point Program which addresses the specific needs of young people from 16 to 25 who experience a first episode of psychosis. The program helps them to create a treatment plan that keeps them in school, in their homes or in supported housing, and in their chosen community.

Mental Health First Aid Training is part of both Diversion First and the Turning Point Program’s agenda in raising awareness about how to recognize the signs that someone needs mental health services. Just like CPR training or regular first aid training, Mental Health First Aid Training is designed to help with evaluation skills and knowing the appropriate steps to take in seeking assistance for someone who is experiencing difficulties.

While Fairfax County does not have a Mental Health Docket, the Diversion First Program is working to train administrative staff in the courts, and magistrates as well, to recognize when mental health issues, addiction issues or intellectual disability issues are a factor in why defendants are coming before the court. Working at the pre-trial level, the CSB and Court Services Staff are evaluating cases early in the morning before defendants are brought before a judge. The goal of Diversion First is to put people in treatment programs where it is appropriate and not in jails where they become part of an endless cycle in and out of incarceration because the real issues that put them there are never addressed or resolved.

For more information about Diversion First, visit: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/diversionfirst/