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2025: From Silos to Solutions: Cross-System Implementation in California’s Behavioral Health and Criminal Justice Reform Initiatives

At Words to Deeds (W2D) 2025, leaders from across California’s behavioral health and criminal justice systems came together to explore how cross-system collaboration can drive meaningful reform. The theme, From Silos to Solutions, reflected a growing commitment to breaking down institutional barriers and building integrated approaches to care, accountability, and public safety.

The event brought together professionals from corrections, behavioral health, the judiciary, law enforcement, and advocacy organizations. Through multidisciplinary discussions, participants examined how trust, empathy, and shared purpose are essential to implementing lasting change. The convening highlighted real-world examples of cross-agency partnerships that are already making a difference in California.

W2D 2025 emphasized the importance of relationships, including understanding the lived experiences of those working in different systems and the individuals and communities they serve. Each session reminded us that reform is not just a policy challenge, it’s a human one. And when systems work together with respect and solidarity, transformation becomes possible.

  • Program

    W2D 2025 Program

  • Presentation & Materials

    • Session 1: A Glance at the Numbers – Data Preview — View Presentation
    • Session 2: Prop 36 – Early Lessons Learned — View Presentation
    • Session 3: Building on Incompetent to Stand Trial (IST) Solutions Workgroup Recommendations & Strengthening the Continuum of Care — View Presentation
    • Session 4: Pathways Forward for CalAIM Justice-Involved Initiative — View Presentation
    • Session 5: The Power of Peers – Bridging Lived Experience into Forensic Behavioral Health — View Presentation
    • Session 6: Mobile Crisis Response Models: Recent Challenges & Successes — View Presentation
    • Session 7: Housing as Public Safety & Well-Being — View Presentation
    • Session 8: Care Court – Learnings From an Early Implementor — View Presentation
    • Session 9: Integrating Peers into the Continuum of Care Workforce Pipeline & Training — View Presentation

  • Speaker Bios

    Words to Deeds 2025 Speaker Bios

  • Attendee List

    W2D 2025 Attendee List

  • 2025 Leadership Group

    W2D Leadership Group Roster 2025

    • Deanna Adams – Senior Analyst, Judicial Council of California, Criminal Justice Services, Operations and Programs Division
    • Jenny Bayardo – Executive Officer, California Behavioral Health Council
    • Oscar Benitez – Managing Director of Diversion and Reentry, Third Sector
    • Autumn Boylan – Deputy Director, Office of Strategic Partnerships, California Department of Health Care Services
    • Ashley Breth – Assistant Deputy Director, Community Forensic Partnerships Division, Department of State Hospitals
    • Bill Brown – Sheriff-Coroner, Santa Barbara County
    • Michelle Cabrera — Executive Director, County Behavioral Health Directors Association
    • Cathy Coyne – Government Affairs Liaison (Retired), California State Sheriffs’ Association
    • Hallie Fader-Towe – Senior Policy Advisor, Council of State Governments Justice Center
    • Grace Ferguson – Executive Associate, Urban Counties of California
    • Marcus Galeste – Research Scientist, Behavioral Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission
    • Brenda Grealish – Executive Director, Behavioral Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission
    • Carmen Green – Executive Director, California State Sheriffs’ Association
    • Kathryn Jett – Senior Policy Consultant, Shatterproof
    • Karen Larsen – Chief Executive Officer, The Steinberg Institute
    • Stephen V. Manley – Superior Court Judge, Santa Clara County
    • Lahela Mattox – Chief Operations Officer, San Diego Regional Task Force on the Homeless
    • Rosie McCool – Deputy Director, Chief Probation Officers of California
    • David Meyer – Clinical Professor, Institute of Psychiatry, Law and Behavioral Sciences, USC Keck School of Medicine
    • Ryan Morimune – Legislative Advocate, Administration of Justice, California State Association of Counties
    • Kevin O’Connell – Research Consultant, O’Connell Research
    • Jolie Onodera – Senior Legislative Advocate, Health and Behavioral Health, California State Association of Counties
    • Mike Radford – Bureau Chief, Training Program Services Bureau, Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training
    • Stephanie Regular – Assistant Public Defender, Office of the Public Defender, Alameda County
    • Will Rhett – Managing Director of Behavioral Health, Third Sector
    • Tyler Rinde – Director of Government Affairs, California Psychological Association
    • Kiran Sahota – President, Concepts Forward Consulting
    • Melanie Scott – Assistant Deputy Director, Community Forensic Partnerships Division, Department of State Hospitals; Albert M. Senella –President, California Association of Alcohol and Drug Program Executives; President and Chief Executive Officer, Tarzana Treatment Centers, Inc.
    • Adrienne Shilton – Director of Public Policy and Strategy, The California Alliance of Child and Family Services
    • Jessica Headley Ternes – Behavioral Health Director, Third Sector
    • Linda Tomasello – Consultant, Crisis Intervention Training
    • Liz Castillon Vice – Staff Services Manager II, Council on Criminal Justice and Behavioral Health
    • Kit Wall – Words to Deeds Project Director, Kit Wall Productions
    • Tracey Whitney – Assistant Head Deputy, Writs and Appeals Division, Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office
    • Molly Willenbring – Consultant, Leadership Benefitting Nonprofit Organizations
    • Helene Zentner – Field Representative, California Board of State and Community Corrections
    • Carrie Zoller – Supervising Attorney, Judicial Council of California, Administrative Office of the Courts

  • Paradigm Awards

    County Champion

    Sarah Eberhardt-Rios – Director, Sutter County
    Health and Human Services

    Presented by: Jessica Headley Ternes – Director
    of Behavioral Health, Third Sector

    State Champion

    Jim Mayer – Adjunct Professor
    McGeorge School of Law

    Presented by: Will Rhett – Managing Director
    of Behavioral Health, Third Sector

    Lifetime Champion

    David Panush – President, California
    Health Policy Strategies of Law

    Presented by: David Meyer – Clinical Professor,
    Institute of Psychiatry, Law and Behavioral Sciences,
    USC Keck School of Medicine

    Additionally, we appreciate Sheriff Brown serving as the Emcee for the Paradigm Awards Presentation again this year.