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AUM’s Conely to lead team to D.C. summit

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AUM’s Conely to lead team to D.C. summit

by Neil Probst | Mar 22, 2016

Healthy Minds Network, led by SummaSource consultant Linnea Conely, selected to send leaders to national summit on incarceration and mental illness.

Auburn University at Montgomery/Montgomery, Ala. (March 22, 2016) — Linnea Conely, a consultant with SummaSource at Auburn University at Montgomery, will lead a team of county and state officials from the River Region to Washington, D.C., in April in hopes of finding ways to reduce the numbers of individuals with mental illness in jails. Only 50 counties from across the U.S. have been invited to attend.

The Healthy Minds Network was selected to send the group to the Stepping Up Summit, April 17–19, because of its groundbreaking collaborative work to establish a coordinated system of mental healthcare in the four River Region counties of Autauga, Elmore, Lowndes and Montgomery.

“We are delighted by this tremendous national recognition that affirms the community-driven partnership that is the Healthy Minds Network,” said Susan Chambers, chair of the Healthy Minds Network. “Our vision for a coordinated sustainable system of mental healthcare will not only enhance the quality of life for individuals with mental illness and their families, but will greatly impact the River Region as a whole.”

Joining Conely, who is the lead coordinator for the Healthy Minds Network and will head the River Region Stepping Up Summit team, at the hands-on workshop and conference will be:

• Capt. Gayle Atchison, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department, Division Commander for the Legal Services Division

• Paul Brown, Executive Director, Montgomery County Community Corrections

• Sen. Clyde Chambliss, Alabama District 30

• Pamela Esposito, Nursing Director, CrossBridge Behavioral Health

• Sheriff Bill Franklin, Elmore County Sheriff’s Department

• Commissioner Dan Harris, Vice Chairman of the Montgomery County Commission

• Commissioner Carnell McAlpine, Lowndes County Commission

• Henry Parker, Executive Director, Montgomery Area Mental Health Authority

• Commissioner Stephanie Daniels Smoke, Elmore County Commission

Stepping Up is an initiative of the National Association of Counties, the American Psychiatric Association Foundation, The Justice Center of the Council of State Governments, and the Bureau of Justice Assistance of the U.S. Department of Justice.

The overarching goal of Stepping Up is to reduce the numbers of individuals with mental illnesses in jails. The initiative aims to create a long-term, national movement to raise awareness of the factors contributing to the over-representation of people with mental illnesses in jails and then use practices and strategies that work to drive those numbers down.

About the River Region Healthy Minds Network

The River Region Healthy Minds Network started as a project funded through an internal AUM SummaSource grant. Co-managed by AUM SummaSource and Envision 2020, the coalition is working to achieve 501(c)(3) status. The objectives of the River Region Healthy Minds Network (RRHMN) are to (1) move every consumer toward his/her best outcome; (2) change the public’s attitudes about mental illness; (3) reduce stigma; (4) decrease recidivism and the probate courts’ caseloads; and (5) decrease the occurrence of relapse.

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Learn more about The Healthy Minds Network at riverregionhealthymindsnetwork.org

Learn more about SummaSource at Auburn University at Montgomery at summasource.com

Auburn University at Montgomery is ranked among the best colleges in the Southeast by The Princeton Review. Consistently chosen as the best university in the area, Auburn University at Montgomery provides students with detailed knowledge and hands-on, practical experience, often from professionals in the field.

Learn more about Auburn University at Montgomery at www.aum.edu.

Media Contact:

Layne Holley
Communications Manager
Auburn University at Montgomery
[email protected]
Office: 334-244-3642
Mobile: 334-318-1017

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