In 2023, the Detroit Justice Center began expanding our Divest/Invest Program to include a deeper focus on understanding where Detroiters are in need of increased investment and support pertaining to mental health, substance use, and harm reduction. Throughout 2024, our Divest/Invest Senior Program Manager, Sheba Rogers, conducted an ecosystem scan of those areas with fifteen partner organizations, learning about the work they do and assessing what support they might need. The learnings from this work culminated in the planning of a partner convening held on December 11-12, 2024, at Focus: HOPE. Attendees collaborated and networked organically through panel discussions, a breakout room strategy session, and a Data Gallery Walk exhibit; they received a draft mental health guidebook comprised of learnings from the ecosystem scan and other tools to support ongoing reflection and engagement post-convening.
Three primary goals of the convening were to break down silos and provide a collaborative space for leaders to connect with others doing similar work, to extend learning initiated by the ecosystem scan, and to uplift and discuss non-carceral responses to mental health and substance use crises. We welcomed 73 attendees representing 38 organizations, including advocates, service providers, community organizers, policymakers, and grassroots leaders. We were thrilled to plan the convening in partnership with five community-based and grassroots organizations, in addition to two research partners who supported the Data Gallery Walk and other convening needs.
The planning committee was instrumental in all aspects of the convening planning and administration, and we knew that such a collaboration would bring in a rich perspective and thought partnership throughout the planning process. The committee comprised five nonprofits and grassroots organizations led by directly impacted people working on the ground:
- ANSWER Detroit – a sex worker justice collective focused on harm reduction
- Moratorium NOW! Coalition – a local advocacy organization focused on housing and public safety
- Free People, Free People – a grassroots organization focused on mental wellness for incarcerated individuals and returning citizens
- The Center for Behavioral Health and Justice at Wayne State University – a Detroit-based academic partner dedicated to diverting mental health responses away from carceral systems
- Michigan Liberation – a close nonprofit partner of DJC that leads the “Care not Criminalization” campaign and other power-building initiatives
The convening was a success thanks in large part to the amazing panelists and speakers. They shared their lived experiences and local work to help deepen our collective awareness of the local context to discuss barriers to service delivery and treatment while lifting up solution-oriented ideas and harm reduction strategies. Community-based programming led by Steps to Life, Inc. at Mack Alive, Harm Reduction Michigan, Detroit Recovery Project, and ECHO Detroit helped to lay the foundation and understanding of our current landscape, of historical and recent changes in administering substance use recovery programs, of mental health and harm reduction services, alongside challenges still to be overcome. This insightful panel, coupled with the Data Gallery Walk exhibit, led to an exciting kickoff to the in-person convening conversations.
Alongside understanding the local landscape, we also sought to learn from organizations deeply engaged in leading and building out alternative or non-traditional responses to care, often reaching more of our underserved populations in need of harm reduction services, substance use, and mental health support outside of a formal program/ institution. Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation, LEAF Harm Reduction, Detroit Heals Detroit, and Harm Reduction Michigan all expressed the importance of non-carceral strategies for care and the ways in which their work is pressing beyond system and policy barriers to reach individuals in need. One of our currently incarcerated thought partners, Omar Warlick, co-founder of Free People, Free People, and Steps to Life, Inc., was also able to share highlights of their mental health programming inside the prison and the front-end strategies needed to prevent incarceration and support mental health needs. Additionally, Strategies to Overcome Obstacles and Avoid Recidivism (SOOAR) and Detroit Peer Respite provided personal and holistic insights and convictions, promoting a radical narrative shift concerning individuals who experience mental health crises, overdose risk, or other mental health and substance use experiences.
Panelists emphasized that as a community, we must re-imagine not just mental healthcare and harm reduction but also mental and physical safety, designing and operating services with dignity and respect while valuing individuals’ lives. Often, the harms of incarceration and traditional (often punitive) inpatient mental health facility programs and policies further exacerbate the challenges individuals come in with. Altogether, our panelists and speakers helped to bridge gaps in understanding and provided insightful data and research to uncover relevant and systemic outcomes. Many partners expressed that they left the convening with not only a wealth of knowledge but also hope for the work that lies ahead.
Our data partners conducted a post-convening evaluation, and their findings concluded that almost all respondents rated their experiences highly and enjoyed the speakers and panels, breakout rooms, and opportunities to connect with other participants. Many expressed a strong interest in future convenings and emphasized the need for more spaces like this to foster ongoing collaboration with system stakeholders.
In the lead-up to the convening, our data partners successfully gathered and visualized important data to help us better understand the intersections between behavioral health, criminal justice involvement, and community care. Through our partnership with the two research and data consultants, we sought to answer two key questions: How are Detroiters being criminalized for issues related to behavioral health and harm reduction? And what are the pressing mental health, substance use, and harm reduction needs in Detroit?
These findings were presented in a 21-poster Data Gallery Walk at the convening. One of our research partners, Dr. Camille Quinn, led a data presentation during the convening, walking participants through the Data Gallery Walk posters and additional research findings, helping to stimulate reflection on pressing mental health outcomes for Detroiters, and the intricacies of legal system involvement. The insights from this research will serve as a critical resource as we move forward in our efforts to reimagine a Detroit that prioritizes health over punishment.
Another key goal of the convening was being able to codify and share learnings from our 2-year local ecosystem scan through the creation of a mental health guidebook. The convening presented a great opportunity to share the critical insights gleaned and to garner input on the recommendations and guidelines offered in the guidebook. We see the 8-page draft guidebook as a resource manual for community partners and policymakers to help strengthen investments in Detroit’s ecosystem of care and improve integration of local infrastructure and services while helping to decriminalize harm reduction, substance use, and mental health. The draft Mental Wellness Guidebook opens with seven key guidelines derived through our ecosystem scan, and they are as follows:
- Prioritize narrative change work around substance use, mental health, and harm reduction
- Provide low-barrier services
- Implement harm reduction approaches in all levels of care
- Invest in non-coercive, voluntary services models
- Support the elimination of policies and practices that either implicitly or explicitly harm, including decriminalization
- Prioritize system and community collaboration that centers the meaningful involvement of impacted groups
- Divest from carceral solutions and invest in nonpunitive, community-centered approaches to care, public safety, and well-being
In the convening breakout room sessions, participants were able to reflect, discuss, and make recommendations toward all of these guidelines. When discussing their various fields of expertise, it became evident that carceral systems directly impacted everyone’s work. For instance, when it came to eliminating harmful policies or practices, the recommendations included decriminalizing drug use, mental health crises, homelessness, and sex work, as well as ending cash bail. Through these discussions, it was made clear how incarceration is a policy failure that has become our society’s de facto response to behaviors and illnesses that are out of the individual’s control.
DJC decided to extend the convening discussions throughout November and December 2024 to include a two-part virtual session on harm reduction in partnership with the Michigan Collaborative to End Mass Incarceration (MI-CEMI) statewide learning community. The first session welcomed over fifty participants, and the second session over thirty-five participants. Local harm reduction agencies, including Michigan Drug Users Health Alliance (MIDUHA), ANSWER Detroit, and SOOAR shared their work in policy advocacy, service delivery, and developing safer alternatives to help avoid criminalization. The virtual sessions deepened the convening learnings and opportunities for engagement with a broader community network aligned around front-end and non-carceral responses to care.
While hosting this convening was a tremendous undertaking, we were invigorated by having a space to freedom dream alongside our community. We know that creating just cities means carving out new pathways to address the needs of those impacted by substance use and mental health challenges so they are no longer subject to carceral responses from entities that lack empathy. As we continue this work, we are continuing to fine-tune the mental wellness guidebook by gathering additional community input, and a finalized version of the guidebook will be available later this year; beyond that, we look forward to more opportunities to gather with our comrades and address the issues that face us in our shared work.