Jail diversion programs

DEFINITION: Jail diversion programs provide an alternative means of sentencing and rehabilitating individuals accused of nonviolent drug and alcohol offenses and those with mental health conditions to avoid unnecessary and unproductive jail or prison time.

Overview

According to several sources, the United States has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. In 2025, the World Population Review reported that the US incarceration rate in 2022 was 541 out of every 100,000 people, for a total incarcerated population of 1,808,100. According to a 2021 report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, of those imprisoned in the US in 2016, about 43 percent had significant mental health conditions and about 85 percent had a substance use disorder, with the majority having been incarcerated on nonviolent drug offenses.

In large correctional facilities such as the Los Angeles County Jail and New York's Rikers Island complex, the population of individuals with mental health conditions is greater than the number of persons being treated for mental illness in any hospital in the US. As a result of the modern trend of deinstitutionalization, correctional facilities have become the nation’s largest providers of mental health treatment.

In response to this problem, many communities turned to jail diversion programs to better meet the rehabilitation needs of individuals in custody with mental health conditions and to alleviate some of the strain that housing such individuals places on the criminal justice system. Jail diversion programs are designed to identify and redirect individuals with serious mental health and substance use problems from jail or prison and toward various community-based treatment and recovery centers. In doing so, these programs allow individuals accused of crimes with mental health conditions to receive the type of rehabilitative support they need to address their mental health and to begin to recover instead of being incarcerated, which often only exacerbates their condition.

Along with improved access to quality health care, jail diversion programs are beneficial to individuals with mental illnesses in many other ways. Such programs frequently allow people to maintain their employment, which, in turn, provides them with a means to support their families and remain productive members of society. Upon completion of treatment, many individuals in jail diversion programs also become eligible to have the charges against them expunged from their records.

Jail diversion programs are also advantageous for the communities in which they operate. In many correctional facilities, the cost of housing a single person in prison in 2023 was around $120 per day, according to the Department of Justice. However, in some states, estimates were as high as $365 per day. In communities with active jail diversion programs, which can effectively reduce or eliminate jail time for thousands of individuals accused or convicted of crimes, the economic savings for taxpayers are considerable.

Types of Jail Diversion Programs

Several common types of jail diversion programs are in practice.

Prebooking diversion takes place before a person is booked into jail and before any charges are filed. The strategies employed within these diversion programs usually focus on the initial contact between an individual and law enforcement officers. As such, prebooking diversion programs require police officers to be specially trained to recognize the indicators of a potential mental illness or substance abuse problem and to make the appropriate judgment as to how an individual should be handled on-scene.

Many of these programs involve collaboration between police and local mental health and substance use treatment facilities. This collaboration may come in the form of a team of specifically trained mental health professionals who respond with police to calls that are likely to involve mental illness or substance abuse. In other cases, police officers may simply choose to transport a person with a severe mental health condition directly to a mental health facility instead of to the police station or jail.

A widely utilized type of jail diversion program is postbooking diversion. Postbooking diversion occurs after a person is arrested and formally charged with a crime. Once charged, the person is screened for mental health and substance use disorders. If a person is deemed eligible for diversion, those in charge of the diversion program work with prosecutors and court officials to negotiate a reduction in, or elimination of, jail time in favor of mental health treatment.

Another third type of jail diversion program is geared specifically toward those accused of nonviolent drug offenses. Drug court was first implemented in 1989 in Miami-Dade County, Florida, by a group of law professionals who determined that another solution to the problems of repeat offenders was needed. They combined drug treatment with judicial supervision to effect changes in convicted individuals' lifestyle and behavior. Within ten years of the first drug court, almost 500 additional drug courts had been in operation throughout the US. By the mid-2020s, over 4,100 drug courts were operating nationwide.

Some criminal justice systems also have separate mental health courts where those diagnosed with mental health conditions and charged with nonviolent crimes are tried. In these courts, those convicted of crimes receive sentences that allow them to avoid jail or prison by participating in a voluntary treatment program.

Effectiveness

Studies have shown that jail diversion programs for people with mental health conditions or substance use disorders have been successful in rehabilitating individuals and reducing or preventing instances of recidivism following release. According to the National Institute of Justice, one study conducted in Kansas City, Missouri, drug courts indicated that the felony rearrest rate decreased from 40 percent prior to individuals attending drug court to 12 percent after being enrolled in drug court. In Pensacola, Florida, the felony rearrest rate decreased from 50 percent to 35 percent.

Research published by The Sentencing Project found that the success rates of youth diversion programs increased significantly between 2016 and 2022 due to widespread state and local law and program changes. For example, Massachusetts established the Juvenile Justice Policy and Data Board in 2018 to investigate diversion models and develop effective models. Largely because of these changes, the number of delinquency cases diverted before prosecutors filed a case or conducted an arraignment increased from 29 to 38 percent and 47 to 65 percent, respectively.

Similarly, other studies have shown that people who participated in a jail diversion program experienced fewer arrests and fewer days incarcerated or hospitalized after they completed the program than in the year prior to their initial arrest. These findings indicate the positive impact of jail diversion programs in addressing mental health conditions, substance abuse, and crime. Those who have committed crimes receive rehabilitation and needed support while avoiding or limiting jail or prison time. Criminal justice systems benefit from fewer people entering already overcrowded correctional facilities. Communities are, in turn, relieved of some of the economic burden of supporting additional incarcerated individuals.

Bibliography

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"Diversion Programs, Explained." Vera Institute, 28 Apr. 2022, www.vera.org/diversion-programs-explained. Accessed 22 Oct. 2025.

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"Protect and Redirect: America’s Growing Movement to Divert Youth Out of the Justice System." The Sentencing Project, 20 Mar. 2024, www.sentencingproject.org/reports/protect-and-redirect-americas-growing-movement-to-divert-youth-out-of-the-justice-system. Accessed 22 Oct. 2025.