Law enforcement assisted diversion produces dramatic reductions in recidivism

This collaboration is named ‘Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD)’ it includes law enforcement, public defenders, human service agencies, business leaders, community groups, and elected officials. The collaboration identified shared goals, and created a process to achieve them.

Police officers with LEAD identify people who have committed low-level criminal offenses; after arrest, instead of sending them to jail, the police link them to a case manager.

The individual is then entered into coordinated, harm-reduction focused continuum of services -- including housing, counseling, job training, drug treatment, mental health services, and health care.

A recently published evaluation report shows that LEAD reduces the number of people caught up in the criminal justice system while also achieving a nearly 60% reduction in relapse rates. Additional data suggest that LEAD improves the health and well-being of people struggling at the intersection of poverty and drug and mental health problems.

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