The Santa Cruz Main Jail is the largest mental health provider in the county. “Let that sink in,” writes Ricki Lee Stautz, a social worker and substance use counselor, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and spent time in jail in 2016. The jail is not a place for healing, she says. The environment exacerbates mental health symptoms and feeds a dangerous cycle of recidivism. She thinks Santa Cruz County can do better and explains how restorative justice and diversion programs work. The programs, many of which already exist in the county, are little known and don’t get the public or financial support they need, she says. She wants to change that.
