ISSUES
MENTAL ILLNESS IS NOT A CRIME
Sheriff Sally Hernandez partnered with community organizations to:
– Provide mental health training to all TCSO Deputies and Corrections Officers – teaching them how to not only identify the signs of crisis, but also how to de-escalate the situation and offer help to the person suffering rather than an arrest
– Offer diversion options to other arresting agencies in order to get a person suffering from a mental health crisis into treatment and not jail
– Provide classes to friends and family of inmates suffering from mental health issues to help avoid future arrests
LEADING A PROGRESSIVE TRAVIS COUNTY JAIL
– Expanded face-to-face visitation and contact visits in order to keep family bonds tight and decrease recidivism
– Helped negotiate miniscule fees for phone visitation during the COVID pandemic so families could stay connected
– Created a Trauma-Informed Care Administrator position within TCSO and recruited a mental health expert of high renown to take on the task of implementing best practices across the entire agency
– Achieved PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act) compliance for our jail. Travis County is 1 of 9 counties, out of 254, to achieve this compliance
BUILDING COMMUNITY TRUST
– Partnered with local moms to sound the alarm in schools and community forums about the dangers of Fentanyl and counterfeit prescription pills
– Ended arrests related to minor possession of marijuana charges
– Advocated for responsible, common sense gun laws so every person can feel safe
– Encouraged deputies, corrections officers, and staff to mentor at-risk kids in order to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline
SUPPORTING SURVIVORS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT
– Created a Sexual Assault Unit whose exclusive mission is to investigate and provide specialized care
– Led a trained victim services staff and volunteers to assist survivors with compassion and empathy, but also notice signs of abuse that are not obvious to the untrained eye
– Partnered with SAFE Alliance, Asian Family Support Services, UT Counseling & Mental Health Center, Texas Advocacy Project, and Texas Rio Grande Legal Services, among others, to provide survivors with services and assistance
