Over reliance on the criminal justice system only inflicts more harm on people who need help while burdening taxpayers with an expensive and ineffective system. That’s why cities across the nation have begun to rely on pre-arrest diversion and crisis response strategies that direct people away from the criminal justice system and toward treatment, housing, and other services. Unfortunately, legislative barriers often exist at a state level that prevent local governments from maximizing the benefits of this approach.
This report includes a 50-state review of laws and rules concerning reform efforts. The authors looked at five key policy areas that affect the ability of local officials to implement diversion and crisis response strategies and offered policy recommendations for each.
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