diversion

NCJA partnered with the National Governors Association (NGA), the National Association of State Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD) and Jac Charlier from PTACC to convene a small group of state-level leaders who are working in deflection.

The Bureau of Justice Assistance leadership, in collaboration with the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Program team, invites you to this no-cost webinar on August 29, 2019 at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Emergency medical services (EMS) can be essential partners in early diversion responses for individuals in crisis. This webinar will focus on the ways that fire departments and EMS can be partners with behavioral health providers and other first responders on early diversion initiatives. Medical clearance will also be explored as part of this webinar.

Hosted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Gather, Assess, Integrate, Network, and Stimulate Center for Behavioral Health and Justice Transformation.

Many early diversion strategies rely upon cooperation between law enforcement officers and mental health professionals to manage crisis encounters. However, on-scene cooperation depends on stakeholder collaboration and clear protocols for how to handle a variety of situations. This webinar will spotlight jurisdictions that have established effective joint responses to mental health crises and provide participants with guidance for their own communities.

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) recently announced the creation of the Law Enforcement/First Responder Diversion Mentor Program, scheduled to begin on October 1, 2019.

Montgomery County needed assistance planning a diversion program for victims of human trafficking. During this reporting period, Center staff began working with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office to plan and implement a new prosecutor-led diversion program oriented around vulnerable young offenders at-risk of sexual exploitation and human trafficking.

Douglas County has seen an increase in the female jail population and they have pegged this to addiction and mental health issues. The county requests help in planning a post- arraignment program for women charged with felonies and misdemeanors.

The office of the Santa Barbara County District Attorney became a TTA site for FY'17 on January 23, 2017. The office intends to use the intensive training and technical assistance available under this grant program to develop a pre-filing, prosecutor-led diversion program focusing on felony property offenses committed by individuals who are drug and alcohol-involved or are mentally ill. The office also intends to explore the use of risks and needs assessment tools to assist decision-making about participant programming.

Deschutes County was approved to become a TTA site for FY'17. They requested TTA to further develop the array of diversion responses available to include individuals who are drug-involved or mentally ill and who are committing more serious felony drug offenses. They also hope to incorporate the use of a risk and needs assessment tool to guide programming decisions and develop an evaluation plan for their drug diversion programs.

On June 1, 2017 Center staff visited the Orange County District Attorney's Office and conducted a half-day site visit that included stakeholder interviews and court observation. The purpose of the site visit was to examine existing prosecutor-led diversion programs and craft recommendations to improve the coordination of diversion options. Leading up to the visit, Center staff held several planning calls with Roberti Conflitti and Anthony Curti from the Orange County DA's Office to better understand caseload, diversion programs, and outcomes.