(Feb. 20, 2015) A new diversion program in Minnesota designed to keep mentally ill offenders in treatment and out of jail could save lives and money (“Proposed diversion program would keep mentally ill out of jail, in the fold,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, Feb. 17).
“People are being recycled over and over again and it’s costing the state a lot of money through the courts, through the jails, through the emergency rooms,” said Goodwin. “And the service is just so disjointed that people with a mental illness are told ‘OK you’re done here, go look for housing or some other service, and it’s not going to happen.”
The new Mental Health Jail Diversion Grant Program would create four “jail diversion hubs” throughout the state that would serve as short-term treatment and resource centers for mentally ill adults arrested for minor crimes.
Sen. Barb Goodwin, DFL-Columbia Heights, author of the bipartisan bill, believes it will reduce unnecessary jail time and the burden on police resources, as well as save the state millions of dollars.
“We’re not just dealing with a onetime incident and returning that person back onto the street, but we’re getting that person back into the fold and getting them the services they need,” said co-author of the bill Rep. Nick Zerwas.
Minnesota is taking a major step in the right direction. Less than half of the U.S. population lives in communities where the most basic methods of diverting people with severe mental illness from the criminal justice system are being used.
Mental health courts divert qualifying criminal defendants from jail into community-based mental health treatment. Crisis intervention teams – often called CIT teams – consist of specially trained officers who respond to service calls involving mental illness. Both programs have consistently been found to reduce the arrest and incarceration of individuals with severe mental illness.
Read the Treatment Advocacy Center’s study Prevalence of Mental Health Diversion Practices: A Survey of the States to find out more.
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