Develop comprehensive diversion plans
Recommendation
Senate and House appropriators should include in the annual Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies spending bill a requirement that as a condition of receiving certain Department of Justice funding, local criminal legal systems, including law enforcement and juvenile justice programs, should be required to develop comprehensive diversion plans with health systems and mental health and substance use disorder (MH/SUD) providers in their communities.[1] Additionally, efforts to universally screen and assess individuals at arrest, sentencing, and all points across the criminal legal system continuum for MH/SUD should be expanded to inform connections to appropriate treatment and services.[2]
Background/summary
Individuals with MH/SUD are disproportionately involved with the criminal legal system, and jails and prisons have tragically become major providers of MH/SUD services.[3] As a condition of receiving DOJ funding, state and local governments should be required to support efforts focused on expanding interventions that divert people with a MH/SUD away from the criminal legal system and into treatment.[3][4] This includes working with health care systems and community MH/SUD providers to develop diversion plans[1][5], and expanding efforts within the criminal legal system to improve screening of individuals for MH/SUD.[2]
citations
1. CEO Alliance for Mental Health. A Unified Vision for Transforming Mental Health and Substance Use Care. Last Accessed 2022.
2. National Alliance on Mental Illness. Consensus Workgroup Policy Recommendations to the 116th Congress and Trump Administration on Behavioral Health Issues in the Criminal Justice System: Next Steps. Last Accessed 2019
3. RAND. Transforming Mental Health Care in the United States. Last Accessed 2021.
4. The Kennedy Forum. TAKE THE PLEDGE. Last Accessed 2023.
5. National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention. Action Plan for Strengthening Mental Health and the Prevention of Suicide in the Aftermath of COVID-19. Last Accessed November 2020.