Crisis Services

LEAD is a diversion initiative that provides a non-punitive, community-based system of response to problematic or unlawful behavior that is rooted in substance use disorder. LEAD invests in an individual’s well-being and is motivated by a desire to reduce reliance on the criminal legal system to address unmet behavioral health needs. In a LEAD initiative, police officers exercise discretionary authority to divert individuals suspected of low-level, non-violent crimes to a community-based, harm-reduction intervention in lieu of arrest, prosecution, and incarceration. LEAD aims to reduce the harms of drug policies that criminalize substance use disorder by allowing police officers to divert instead of arrest when responding to behaviors and situations that do not pose a significant threat to public safety. LEAD is a systems-change effort that includes a direct service component.