Resources - NACo - Familiar Faces Initiative

Familiar Faces Initiative Playbook

The Playbook is designed to help guide the development of a multi-system strategy to successfully divert frequent utilizers, when appropriate, away from the criminal justice and emergency health systems and…

Point-of-Service Information Sharing Between Justice and Behavioral Health Partners

Information sharing across behavioral health and criminal justice systems is critical to reducing the number of people with mental and substance use disorders in jails. At the point of service,…

Case Study: Adams County, Colo.

Adams County encompasses the northeast suburban area of Denver, Colo. The county’s proximity to a large metropolitan area leads to highly transient populations, especially individuals experiencing homelessness. Many of these…

Familiar Faces Leadership Network Profiles

The Familiar Faces Leadership Network is a cohort of 13 elected officials. Over the next year, the Leadership Network will participate in peer exchanges, technical assistance and other learning opportunities…

Case Study: Bexar County, Texas

Bexar County is a Familiar Faces Initiative (FFI) Peer-Learning Site that models effective cross-sector data sharing and familiar faces programming to divert residents with behavioral health conditions such as mental illness and/or…

Using Public Safety Funds to Support Community Members’ Behavioral Health Needs

Law enforcement officers are often the first responders when a person is experiencing a behavioral health crisis. In many cases, individuals who repeatedly call 911 or cycle through jail become…

Sharing Data Across Justice and Behavioral Health Systems: 2022 NACo Annual Conference Workshop Summary

The Familiar Faces Initiative (FFI) seeks better outcomes and lower incarceration rates for individuals who frequently cycle through jails, homeless shelters, emergency departments and other local crisis services by empowering…

Case Study: Minnehaha County, S.D.

As a member of the Familiar Faces Initiative, Stepping Up and the Safety and Justice Challenge, Minnehaha County leverages multiple opportunities to develop strategies that meet the needs of familiar…

Leader Profile: Board Member Susan Schafer

This Familiar Faces Initiative Community Portrait is the seventh in a series highlighting individuals who are championing cross-systems collaboration and data sharing within their jurisdictions to improve outcomes for familiar faces of justice, health and human services systems.

Launch of the Familiar Faces Initative

The National Association of Counties (NACo) relaunched Data-Driven Justice as the Familiar Faces Initiative: Improving Outcomes through Coordinated Health & Justice Systems. The Familiar Faces Initiative will support and empower communities to…

Somewhere to Go During a Behavioral Health Emergency: Crisis Triage Centers and Behavioral Health Clinics

Counties are partnering with health care providers to establish crisis triage centers that offer in-person treatment and services to people experiencing a behavioral health emergency. These centers may offer short-term…

Community Portrait: Beya Thayer

This Community Portrait is the sixth in a series highlighting individuals who are championing cross-systems collaboration and data sharing within their jurisdictions to respond to the needs of frequent utilizers of justice,…