We are requesting funds to cover the cost for up to 7 individuals representing the Pre-Arrest Diversion initiative, the State's Attorney's Office, the public Defender's Office, the Sheriff's Office, the Health Department, the Elgin Police Department, and potentially a representative from one of our collaborating private hospitals to travel to Pima County, AZ (Tucson, AZ) for 3 days in order to spend time with the leadership from Justice Services, the Regional Behavioral Health Authority, prosecutors and public defense, and the law enforcement partners.
In particular, we'd like to meet with those who worked to set up and who currently run the Regional Behavioral Health Authority; see the CRC facility to get an understanding of what role it plays in their diversion efforts and crisis response; spend some time learning from law enforcement leaders and officers about how they achieved officer buy-in and overcame common hurdles in the process of implementation; gain insight into the prosecutor's role; and speak with the individuals at the Justice Center to get a sense of their process and what they've found works or doesn't work as they've gone through implementation at a county level similar to what we are attempting.
Having identified a need to address and respond to the ongoing opioid crisis that claimed 69 lives in Kane County in 2020, and the over-burdening of the criminal legal system with people who have low-level drug offences and offences related to untreated mental health issues or a lack of resources/homelessness, the Kane County State's Attorney has indicated a desire to establish a pre-arrest initiative based on the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) model.
Evidence has shown repeatedly and consistently that people experiencing mental health issues and/or substance use disorders are better treated through the agencies and services within the community than in the criminal legal system. Knowing how successful this model has shown to be around the country, we have worked to implement it with fidelity.
Our Elgin Police Department pilot initiative has been running for one month and we have yet to have a participant accept enrollment into pre-arrest diversion, though three have been offered. While we have some ideas about how to approach this in regards to improving officer buy-in and ensuring that it is clearly explained to individuals, we do not want to let this apparent issue go on for too long without addressing it.
We are also growingly concerned about the sustainability of our funding as we are relying heavily on grants and a patchwork of case managers with interns and law enforcement-contracted crisis counselors to get us operational.
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