CLINICAL HANDBOOK OF SCHIZOPHRENIA

526 VII. POLICY, LEGAL, AND SOCIAL ISSUESIn this chapter, then, the term diversion is used only with reference to law enforcementand jail-based programs.What Is Jail Diversion?The goal of jail diversion is to eliminate or reduce the time a person with severe mentalillness is detained or incarcerated as a result of potential or pending criminal charges.Diversion has two key components: (1) eliminating/reducing jail time and (2) linkingdiverted individuals to community-based treatment. Beginning in the 1990s, a variety ofjail diversion programs began to crop up in various locales around the country, fundedprimarily by Federal and state demonstration programs. By 2005, according to GAINSCenter estimates, there were 294 operational jail diversion programs.Who Benefits from Jail Diversion?The prime beneficiary of jail diversion is the person with severe mental illness. There isevidence that persons with mental illness will often be charged, convicted, and sentencedmore severely than other people arrested for similar behavior. Moreover, it has been reportedthat persons with mental illness spend two to five times longer in jail than personswithout mental illness. While in jail, they may spend more time in segregated housing andisolation cells, and have more restricted privileges than other detainees. So diversion tocommunity-based mental health treatment can make a significant difference in quality oflife and functioning.It is also important to recognize that there are other beneficiaries in jail diversion.Mental health clinicians and police/jail authorities can find common ground in divertingpeople with severe mental illness from the criminal justice system. Clinicians seek to helppeople with severe mental illness stay out of hospitals and jails by facilitating access toand use of treatment and support services that improve their functioning and quality oflife. Police officers want to keep the peace, to avoid any escalation of violence whencalled to a disturbance, and to secure arrangements that help persons with mental illnesswho are repeatedly involved in disturbances or behaviors that warrant arrest. Jail correctionalpersonnel want to maintain conditions that promote detainee and correctional officersafety while holding people with criminal charges pending their adjudication. Jail authoritiesare also motivated to reduce the administrative burden that detainees withsevere mental illness often place on the jail by exacerbating jail overcrowding and requiringspecialized in-jail housing, extra staffing, and special precautions, such as suicidewatch.The common ground here is that recognizing someone has a severe mental illnessand engaging that person in mental health treatment minimizes or averts untoward situationsthat would otherwise compromise the public health and public safety goals of allparties. Finally, families and consumer advocates share a common ground with mentalhealth clinicians and police/jail authorities in that all parties desire the most appropriatetreatment in the least restrictive settings for persons with mental illness who are involvedwith the criminal justice system.When Does Diversion Occur?Pathways into, through, and out of criminal justice processing involve a series of stepsthrough which any criminal defendant passes, regardless of his or her mental health status.The GAINS Center has conceptualized criminal justice processing as a pathway with