RECAMFT Racial & Social Justice Committee presents: Community, Mental Health, and Law Enforcement - An Informal Discussion
The RECAMFT Racial and Social Justice Committee invites you to participate in this Zoom discussion group on:
Thursday, May 12, 2022
6:30 pm to 7:30 pm
Open to all within our therapist community - FREE!
RECAMFT's Racial and Social Justice Committee is excited to invite you to Community, Mental Health, and Law Enforcement: An Informal Discussion about the Sonoma County Sheriff Election on June 7, an election that may heavily influence the health and mental health policies that affect our community. We feel very lucky that Jerry Threet, lawyer and policy specialist, who established the important Law Enforcement Oversight agency IOLERO (Independent Office of Law Enforcement Review and Outreach) will come and talk with us for an hour!
Jerry will share what IOLERO is all about, how it relates to community health and policing, and how the upcoming Sheriff's election will influence all of these. We will talk about InResponse, Santa Rosa's crisis response team, a big step forward in Sonoma County's Law Enforcement and Mental Health Practices. Attendees are invited to ask critical questions in regards to the different candidates' policies towards IOLERO as well as Mental Health policies in policing.
Therapists work in this field because they see the importance of mental health approaches and interventions. Those interventions can be on individual, partnership, family, or group levels. The biggest immediate group we live in is our community. In a family, if we saw physical abuse happening, we'd intervene to create behavior change on all sides, and hopefully underlying mental change as well. It is our duty to create safety. We each have an opportunity for a community intervention towards more mental health awareness and safety. Who we vote in to become Sonoma County Sheriff has a huge influence on what is happening in our county in regards to budgets, to Mental Health contracts and outreach, and for the well-being of our Black and Brown communities.
Please spread the word, and join us on Zoom next Thursday, May 12th from 6:30pm to 7:30pm, bring your questions, and learn about how we can all be more involved in this beautiful community we live in!
Register online for this May 12 discussion group here.
About Jerry Threet
Jerry Threet is an attorney and policy specialist in private practice, following a long career in public interest law at various levels of government and the private sector. His current practice focuses on issues of police oversight and accountability, public records, and transparency. He also serves as the Investigative Officer for the Richmond, CA Community Police Review Commission, conducting investigations of alleged misconduct by Richmond Police Officers.During his career, Mr. Threet has conducted hundreds of investigations, depositions, witness interviews, factual evaluations, negotiations, and community meetings, and has significant experience working with diverse populations.
From 2016 – 2019, he established the Independent Office of Law Enforcement Review and Outreach and served as Director. IOLERO is the first civilian oversight agency established in Sonoma County, following the killing of 13-year-old Andy Lopez in 2013 by a Deputy Sheriff. In 2018, the county settled a related lawsuit for $3 Million. At IOLERO, Mr. Threet created multiple systems necessary for the office to achieve its main missions: audit investigations of alleged deputy misconduct; recommend improvements to policies, practices, and training; and engage with the community, both directly and through a Community Advisory Council. He completed over 50 audits of investigations, including complex officer involved shootings, and a mass use of force incident in the jail. Mr. Threet authored two Annual Reports, as well as two stand-alone reports - one recommending limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, and another recommending improving the Sheriff's internal investigations. He engaged over 2000 community members as Director, including a healing circle between deputies and undocumented immigrants, and a focus group with homeless individuals.
In 2020, Mr. Threet spearheaded a successful ballot measure campaign to strengthen IOLERO so that the oversight agency would meet the NACOLE criteria for effective oversight of law enforcement. Measure P, the Evelyn Cheatham Effective IOLERO Ordinance, was passed with 2/3 of the vote in November 2020. Threet continues to be active in fighting efforts by the Sheriff's unions to invalidate the measure. Threet also recently completed a nearly year-long, comprehensive audit of the Sebastopol Police Department, earning praise for a comprehensive report that will serve as a blueprint for realizing the potential of the agency for true community policing.
Prior to his current focus, Mr. Threet litigated cases to protect tenants, workers, and consumers as a San Francisco Deputy City Attorney. He also worked at the U.S. Department of Justice, working on cases in antitrust litigation, class action discrimination cases, and criminal drug trafficking. Threet also has served as legislative staff to both a Texas State Senator and a San Francisco County Supervisor.
Your hosts from RECAMFT's Racial & Social Justice Committee
Katharina Kienböeck has been working as a Marriage and Family Therapist and teacher in a variety of settings for the past 20 years. She has created programs and led groups at a day treatment center in New York for SPMI clients, worked with women and families at a homeless shelter in Los Angeles, and supported clients with severe mental illness to live independently in Sonoma County. She has been an Adjunct Professor of social justice,
psychology and cultural diversity at Antioch University in Los Angeles as well as at a Community College in Hudson, NY. For the past 9 years, she has been in private practice and teamed up with her colleague Linda Block to support couples in their relationships. In 2020 they also created monthly Anti-Racism Salons offered to Mental Health Professionals in Sonoma County.
Linda Block has been practicing as a Marriage and Family Therapist and Supervisor in private practice and in a medical setting for the past 20 years. Linda spearheaded a counseling training center within a medical clinic in a rural setting where there was little opportunity for people to find support and therapy. Linda has also worked for the ADL as a DEI trainer for students and teachers. Linda implemented gay-straight alliances to support those kids at highest risk of suicide in middle and high school in Kern County. In Sonoma County, she helped create a black student union at the local high school. Linda teamed up with Katharina Kienböeck to coach couples to better relationships. In 2020 they created monthly Anti-Racism Salons offered to Mental Health Professionals in Sonoma County.
RECAMFT Director at Large Emily Larkin
Emily Larkin was licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist in 2020 and has been working with clients in the field of mental health for the past seven years. She has provided in-home parent support counseling to new parents, facilitated groups and provided individual counseling to junior high and high school students for the Petaluma City Schools district, and provided mental health counseling in both community clinic and private practice settings throughout Sonoma County. Emily runs her private practice out of Sebastopol, working with individuals with anxiety, relational distress, and depression. Emily is passionate about social justice issues and helped formulate and run the Diversity Committee of Lomi Psychotherapy Clinic during her associateship, focused on improving representation and inclusion within the clinic for both clients and therapists. She has been a part of RECAMFT’s Racial and Social Justice Committee since its formulation in 2020, and is a new member of the RECAMFT Board of Directors.
Register online for this May 12 discussion group here.
Notes
Find more RECAMFT trainings and events here.
