Fact Sheet #5
A Better Way:
Programs Offering Alternatives to Incarceration
Pre-Booking Diversion Programs
People with serious mental disorders often come to the attention of law enforcement
officers as a result of circumstances related to their illness. These arrests
are frequently for nuisance offenses or minor infractions of the law. In a number
of jurisdictions these individuals can be redirected at the outset, away from
incarceration and into community-based mental health treatment.
Pre-booking diversion occurs before a person is arrested or formal charges
have been filed. Law enforcement pre-booking diversion occurs at the time of
contact with law enforcement and relies heavily on effective interactions between
police and community mental health. There are several models of pre-booking
programs, including special police officer response teams, police-based mental
health workers and mobile crisis teams of mental health professionals.
Post-Booking Diversion Programs
Post-booking jail diversion programs provide access to appropriate mental
health treatment outside of jail soon after arrest. Typically, these programs
incorporate:
- screening of detainees for presence of mental illness;
- evaluation by qualified mental health professional of those identified through
screening;
- negotiation between diversion personnel or defense attorney and the court
or prosecutor to establish a mental health disposition either in lieu of prosecution
or as a condition of reduction in charges or community supervision;
- linking of clients to community-based mental health services.
Adjudication or Post-Adjudication Programs
Mental health and criminal justice entities collaborate in various ways
to move defendants with mental illnesses into treatment as a condition for reduction
in charges or community supervision. This collaboration involves:
- mental health programs,
- jails,
- courts,
- pre-trial services programs,
- prosecutors,
- the defense bar, and/or
- probation.
Courts are often willing to refer individuals to mental health services when
a judge has confidence that the program will be effective and will ensure adequate
follow-up for the
person referred. In many jurisdictions, mental health programs work with various
courts to refer offenders with misdemeanor and/or felony charges.
Some jurisdictions have established specialized mental health courts to handle
cases when a defendant has a mental illness. Mental health courts are controversial.
Some claim they are unnecessary for diversion and detrimental to the individual
if they result in a criminal record or encourage use of the criminal justice
system as a door into mental health treatment. The courts in various parts of
the country differ greatly, even as to basic issues, such as the degree to which
participation is voluntary, whether the individual must plead guilty in order
to participate, whether community mental health services are expanded to accommodate
the needs of those diverted by the courts, the length of time individuals are
under the court's supervision, the defendants' criminal offenses and whether
there are sanctions for non-compliance with treatment goals.
Evaluations of mental health courts are now underway, but to date few data
have been compiled regarding their effectiveness. A specific "mental health
court" is not essential for court-based diversion, however.
Comprehensive Mental Health-Justice Collaborations
In a number of communities, linkages between the mental health and criminal
justice systems have been forged at several points along the criminal justice
continuum. In these communities, a comprehensive program of services and supports
is offered through the mental health system and individuals are referred from
various sources, including law enforcement officers, mobile mental health treatment
teams, jail staff, defense attorneys, prosecutors, pretrial services, judges,
and probation and parole officers. Individuals being released from jail and
prison may also be eligible.
These communities have discovered that programs of services and support can
be equally effective with offenders who have misdemeanor or felony charges or
who are at different stages in the criminal justice system.
Programs for Successful Transition Back to the Community
More than half a million people a year leave prison or jail, but the transition
to the community is complex.1 Sixty-two
percent of those released are re-arrested at least once within three years and
41% are re-incarcerated.2 For people
with mental illnesses, this transition is particularly hard because they need
access to mental health and other services and supports (such as housing) in
the community. Re-entry programs seek to ease this transition by providing linkages
with mental health programs and addressing the full range of the individual's
needs.
Such programs address inmates' mental health needs and help them make the transition
from incarceration to a job, re-establish family ties, develop a social network
and avoid further criminal activity.
Some re-entry initiatives are specialized, assisting inmates in accessing benefit
programs, such as Medicaid, or providing them identification to use in civilian
life. Others, like New York City's Project LINK, are more comprehensive.
1. Allen J. Beck, "State and Federal
Prisoners Returning to the Community: Findings from the Bureau of Justice Statistics
(Washington
DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, April 13, 2000).
2. Id.
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