Diverting addicts works — can it go statewide?

ASanta Fe pilot program designed to divert low-level drug users away from the criminal justice system is working. That’s good for Santa Fe and potentially, all of New Mexico.

According to a study looking at the first three years of the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program, Santa Fe’s experiment — the city was only the second in the nation to try LEAD after Seattle — is improving both public safety and health.

Last week, representatives of the criminal justice system and the city of Santa Fe gathered to discuss the study, put together by the New Mexico Sentencing Commission in partnership with the University of New Mexico Institute for Social Research and Pivot Evaluation. Emily Kaltenbach, state director with the Drug Policy Alliance said, “We wanted the data, and now we have the data.”

With LEAD, here’s what happens to offenders. Instead of being arrested for a nonviolent drug-related crime, people are referred by cops to a system in which their problems are treated. They receive support for their addiction, mental illness if it exists, homelessness and poverty. Public health is the model, with harm reduction the goal.

That sounds great, but is the community at large safer? Evidently so, at least in the first three years of the program as it played out in Santa Fe. Since the program started in May 2014, some 177 individuals have been diverted from arrest and prosecution to services and treatment.

Participants had a statistically significant decrease in the number of arrests during the first six months after being diverted into the program. Interviews among participants showed a reduction in heroin use, more individuals in permanent housing and improved well-being and mental health. LEAD participants had no violent charges post-diversion — that’s important when considering public safety.

What’s more, LEAD is cheaper than arrest, jail, release and repeat. After paying for LEAD and figuring in savings to criminal justice and emergency medical costs, the study showed that diversion saves the system around 17 percent, or $1,558 per client per year.

The study did more than uncover successes, however, It showed ways that the program can improve. More follow-up after six months will help keep addicts out of trouble and on track. Kaltenbach said in Seattle, case workers are taking to the streets to find people who need help, “meeting people where they’re at.”

Since Seattle began its experiment and Santa Fe followed, the diversion program expanded to 18 cities around the country with more in development. In New Mexico, Las Cruces and Española are considering adopting LEAD. It is clear, Kaltenbach said, that, “Treating people in the health system instead of punishing them in the criminal justice system leads to better outcomes for individuals as well as the community at large.”

With Kaltenbach at the news conference were Mayor Alan Webber, District Attorney Marco Serna, police Chief Andrew Padilla and Chief Public Defender Bennett Baur, who called LEAD “a game-changer. I’m very excited about where we are now and very excited about where we are going.”

And that’s the key — where are we going as a state, both in fighting the drug epidemic that has ravaged communities but also to ensure public safety? For years, there has been discussion about how New Mexico needs to revamp portions of its criminal justice system, with more emphasis on rehabilitation and treatment. The LEAD experience in Santa Fe is an indication that this approach could work, whether in terms of improving the lives of people in trouble, saving money or reducing crime. Denise Herrera, a mother, said LEAD helped her son recover from heroin addiction.

On Monday, the New Mexico SAFE coalition is going to release details of a new poll that shows New Mexico residents overwhelmingly favor rehabilitation and treatment rather than a punitive approach to criminal justice. Helping, rather than punishing, is a strategy that our state could champion — with an emphasis on policies that leave fewer people behind bars and more people out and living productive lives.

We are at a turning point, it seems, armed with data from a pilot program that shows how diversion can work, both for individuals and the broader community. Other communities in New Mexico are interested in adopting the pre-prosecution diversion model.

What’s more, a new governor will be taking office Jan. 1, with a long legislative session to follow. That’s the time to take what we now know works and replicate it — money for LEAD made it to the governor’s desk previously but was line-item vetoed. With new leadership, New Mexico has an opportunity to expand a program that works.