A Way Forward: Diverting People with Mental Illness from Inhumane and Expensive Jails into Community-Based Treatment that Works

This report examines how Los Angeles County can reduce incarceration for individuals with mental illness by implementing diversion programs together with supportive housing and assertive community treatment (ACT) programs. These programs have been shown to reduce recidivism. This report recommends that the county partner with judicial officials, law enforcement, and mental health and substance abuse experts to develop a diversion program that includes supportive housing and ACT.