Co-occurring Disorder Programming

Deflection, Crime Reduction, and Policing: What’s Old is New Again! Willow B
In this presentation, deflection will be explored as a form of crime reduction through its
preventative and interventive approaches to addressing the impact of substance use and
related issues in communities. Framed as a form of community advocacy and an extension
of the community policing ethos, deflection creates community-driven solutions with active
engagement from community stakeholders, inclusive of law enforcement. Deflection can

Over the past decade, communities and first responders have successfully worked together to establish sustainable, effective alternatives to arrest for people with substance use disorder through the implementation of deflection initiatives. In tandem, the law enforcement community has also acknowledged the high importance of incorporating racial equity practices in order to better serve communities experiencing the highest rates of overdose and drug-related arrests.

The 2023 Police, Treatment, and Community (PTACC) Deflection and Pre-Arrest Diversion Training Summit was held in Seattle, Washington on October 28-November 1, 2024. Over 400 people attended the summit, including COSSUP grantees. Attendees and presenters included law enforcement officers and other first responders, behavioral health practitioners, community-based service providers, deflection program managers, researchers, and officials from the local, state, and national levels.

These calls are an opportunity for grantees to check-in with us at CHJ, meet other grantees, and learn about topics related to deflection and pre-arrest diversion initiatives. Invited are CHJ's open FY19-23 deflection and pre-arrest diversion grantees. After a brief introduction to the CHJ team and our TTA support, we were joined by two presenters, one from fellow COSSUP TTA provider, the Institute for Intergovernmental Research (IIR) and another, Captain Kevin Hunter, from the Fort Wayne police department.

These newsletters are distributed by email at the beginning of every month and highlight upcoming CHJ grantee cohort events (like office hours, quarterly and focus area calls) and provide new resources, or recordings and resources that were mentioned on previous cohort calls. These newsletters also include products or upcoming events from COSSUP and its other TTA providers, and relevant federal resources.

CHJ Office Hours take place every 3rd Friday of the month. These Office Hours are meant for sites to come and ask any questions or concerns that they may have. There will be members of the CHJ team, with appearances from various subject matter experts or other COSSUP TTA providers, present for the duration of the call to assist with any topics/questions that are brought up. Any site can join throughout the hour to speak with the CHJ team.

CHJ Office Hours take place every 3rd Friday of the month. These Office Hours are meant for sites to come and ask any questions or concerns that they may have. There will be members of the CHJ team, with appearances from various subject matter experts or other COSSUP TTA providers, present for the duration of the call to assist with any topics/questions that are brought up. Any site can join throughout the hour to speak with the CHJ team.

The Deflection Mentoring Initiative provides communities interested in starting deflection programs the opportunity to learn from established or innovative programs that have shown success in meeting the treatment needs of individuals with a substance use disorder, and in some cases an overdose. During site visits, mentors will provide opportunities for observation and peer-to-peer exchanges, including opportunities to observe the law enforcement/first responder diversion or referral program in action and allowing mentee sites to engage with program personnel.

These newsletters are distributed by email at the beginning of every month and highlight upcoming CHJ grantee cohort events (like office hours, quarterly and focus area calls) and provide new resources, or recordings and resources that were mentioned on previous cohort calls. These newsletters also include products or upcoming events from COSSUP and its other TTA providers, and relevant federal resources.

These newsletters are distributed by email at the beginning of every month and highlight upcoming CHJ grantee cohort events (like office hours, quarterly and focus area calls) and provide new resources, or recordings and resources that were mentioned on previous cohort calls. These newsletters also include products or upcoming events from COSSUP and its other TTA providers, and relevant federal resources.