Jail Diversion Program

Jail Diversion Program

Jail Diversion focuses on preventing further involvement with the legal system by focusing effort on five distinct ‘intercept’ points

  • Pre-Arrest – Law Enforcement and Emergency Services
  • Pre-Booking – Initial Detention/Initial Court Hearings
  • Jail In-reach -Jails and Courts
  • Re-entry – from corrections to the community
  • Community Corrections/Community Support – maintain support in the community

The goals of the jail diversion program are:

  • Reduce mental illness’ effect in the community.
  • Reduce arrests and legal system entanglement.
  • Connect people with mental illness to other resources for which they need (food, clothing, work, shelter, etc).
  • Provide cost effective supports to the entire community
  • Break down barriers for those with mental illness.
  • Referrals to jail diversion are prioritized by:
  • Individuals with high risk of criminal behavior, incarceration or arrest
  • Individuals who have co-existing substance abuse disorder of more than six months
  • Individuals who have shown little or no ability to participate in office based services
  • Individuals on parole or probation