Diversion
At a time when incarceration costs are eating up large percentages of limited state budgets, lawmakers, judges, police, prosecutors and defenders all agree – diverting people from the criminal justice system is a good thing. In addition to avoiding unnecessary expense, diversion also helps people avoid criminal convictions and the many negative consequences that flow from them. For community defenders diversion programs aid in both addressing the needs of individual clients and establishing problem-solving policy reforms that benefit entire communities.
Defenders play a vital role in developing diversion programs in their jurisdictions, and identifying stages when clients can be re-routed out of the system – upon arrest, at arraignment or first appearance in court, through mediation with the prosecutors, or in lieu of a term of incarceration. Some defenders are also involved in developing problem-solving courts, like homeless court and drug court, designed to resolve criminal charges and solve the underlying issues that lead to involvement in the system, while avoiding terms of incarceration.
