A Potential New Form of Jail Diversion and Re-Connection to Mental Health Services: II. Demonstration of Feasibility

Given fragmentation between mental health and criminal justice systems, we tested feasibility of implementing a potential new form of pre-booking jail diversion. Our “linkage system” consists of three steps: (1) individuals with serious mental illnesses and an arrest history give special consent to be enrolled in a statewide database; (2) if an officer has an encounter with an enrolled patient and runs a routine background check, he/she receives an electronic message to call; and (3) the “Linkage Specialist” provides brief telephonic assistance to the officer. Of 206 eligible individuals, 199 (96.6%) opted in; the database received 679 hits; and the Linkage Specialist received 31 calls (and in at least three cases an arrest was likely averted). Mean number of arrests was 0.59±0.92 in the year before enrollment (38.7% arrested), and 0.48±0.83 during the 12-month intervention (30.7% arrested). Implementation is feasible, and a signal that the system might reduce incarceration was detected, encouraging development of a larger study.