People having a mental health crisis in this country are more likely to encounter law enforcement than to receive treatment. And because of a lack of other resources, police sometimes spend a fifth of their time dealing with people with a mental illness. Studies indicate that more than 80% of people in jails with mental illness do not receive adequate treatment. States are following a number of paths to deal with the problem and the guests on this podcast discuss the work they’ve done.
Diversion is a general term for decisions, programs or services that steer youth from formal processing in the juvenile justice system if they fall within certain categories or will comply with specific requirements.
Visit our juvenile justice homepage for links to reports, maps, chart and the juvenile justice bill tracking database.
Visit the homepage to see our reports, blogs, legislation trackers and other resources that span the front end of the justice system—policy and budget impacts on local justice systems, jails, mental health and competency, and more.
View our homepage for comprehensive reports, statutes, legislation and charts on the pretrial release process.
NCSL tracks many criminal justice hot topics like marijuana; human trafficking; juvenile life without parole; death penalty; drug crime policy and other issues.
NCSL maintains criminal justice legislation and bill tracking databases. Check out the new community supervision and reentry resources.