Mental & Physical Health
Mental and physical health alone don’t cause crime, but when people struggle with untreated mental illness, substance abuse disorders, housing instability, or lack of healthcare, the risk of crises increases for them and the community.
We can address this by expanding community mental-health services, increasing school-based behavioral support, strengthening crisis-response teams by incorporating trained clinicians into police responses, and pushing the state to fund more psychiatric beds and inpatient stabilization services.
Improving access to pharmacies, Medicaid-accepting providers, and preventive care for chronic diseases in traditionally underserved areas will help people get support before crises escalate and keep our community safer.