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Prince George's County Council adopts resolution backing non-carceral mental health care for returning citizens
Summary
The county council voted 6-0 to adopt CR-15, a resolution expressing support for non-carceral mental health care and the federal People's Response Act; committee supporters noted potential funding challenges and emphasized reintegration services.
The Prince George's County Council voted 6-0 on April 1 to adopt CR 15-20-25, a resolution expressing the council's support for non-carceral mental health care and for the spirit of the federal People's Response Act.
The resolution, introduced for final-reading consideration, urged the development and implementation of programs that provide mental health care to formerly incarcerated individuals outside of the prison system. Melissa Bugay, chair of the Health and Human Services and Public Safety (HHSPS) Committee, reported that the committee convened March 18 to consider the measure and voted 4-0 to forward it favorably to the full council.
Supporters said the resolution is intended to encourage integration of mental-health resources into criminal-justice reentry efforts. Council member Orellada thanked the advocacy group Life After Release for its federal-level work on the issue. Secunda Skinner, identified as a council liaison to the acting county executive, expressed the county executive’s general support for the resolution while noting the financial challenges of creating and sustaining non-carceral programs.
Martin Mitchell, representing Life After Release, spoke in favor of the resolution during committee consideration and urged expanded access to mental health care for returning citizens. The county Office of Law advised that the resolution was in proper legislative form and raised no legal impediment to adoption.
The motion to adopt was moved and seconded on the floor and passed unanimously among voting members present, 6-0. The resolution is a policy expression of support; it does not by itself appropriate funding or create new county programs. Committee and liaison remarks highlighted that implementing related services would require additional resources and cooperation from external funders and agencies.
Council records show the HHSPS committee considered CR 15 following its referral on Feb. 18, 2025. The resolution’s passage signals county-level support for federal and local efforts to expand non-carceral mental-health options for people returning from incarceration, but further budgetary or programmatic steps were not authorized by this resolution.
