(Cuyahoga County) Diversion Center

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2022

Recent national trends have shown that a significant number of individuals who come into contact with the criminal justice system suffer from serious mental illness (SMI) and/or substance use disorders (SUD). The lack of available resources, services, and law enforcement training over the years has effectively led to the criminalization of individuals suffering from SMIs/SUDs. In 2018, Cuyahoga County recognized this problem in its own jail and formed a stakeholder group to address the issue. The group conducted a study which showed that individuals suffering from SMIs/SUDs accounted for over a third of the county’s jail population, and their length of stay in the jail was nearly double the average of that entire population. The Diversion Center was developed as a solution to keep individuals out of the criminal justice system and connect them with the treatment options they need and deserve. The intended client population was low-level, nonviolent misdemeanor offenders who are more appropriately served in a therapeutic facility in lieu of jail. Cuyahoga County recognized the need of these services by other residents and expanded eligibility criteria beyond criminal justice interaction within the first 6 months of opening. The Center offers clients various services that include assessment, detox, medication, counseling, and referrals to other community organizations. This evidence-based approach has been proven to reduce recidivism, increase economic self-sufficiency, and decrease overall criminal justice operation costs in the process. The Center – the first of its kind in the State of Ohio – opened on May 3, 2021, and has served 211 clients in its first ten months. In that same ten-month span, approximately 800 sessions involving crisis intervention training were provided to officers and dispatchers across 55 different agencies as part of the program.