Law Enforcement/Public Safety

Deflection and Pre-arrest Diversion: A Public Health and Safety Response to Stimulant and Other Substance Use in the Community

Friday, November 4, 2022

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM

Presenter(s)

Vicky Butler

Program Director
Plymouth County Outreach
East Bridgewater, Massachusetts
Connie Priddy, MA, RN, MCCN

Director of Quality Compliance/Huntington QRT Program Coordinator
Cabell County (West Virginia) EMS/Huntington QRT
Marshall University
Huntington, West Virginia
Hope Fiori, MPPA

Senior Administrator
TASC’s Center for Health and Justice
Chicago, Illinois
Allen G. Herring

Hero Help Behavioral Health Unit Executive Officer
New Castle County (DE) Police Department
New Castle, Delaware
Pamela Kelley, MPA

Executive Director
Kelley Research Associates
Stonehill College
Norwell, Massachusetts
Nandini Manne, PhD

Associate Professor
Marshall University
Marshall University
Huntington, West Virginia
Ellen Donnelly, PhD

Assistant Professor
Center for Health and Drug Studies, University of Delaware
University of Delaware
Newark, Delaware

Deflection and pre-arrest diversion are collaborative prevention and intervention efforts, in which law enforcement and other first responders (fire and emergency medical services) partner with behavioral health systems to connect individuals with stimulant and other substance use disorders, mental health disorder, or co-occurring disorders to community-based treatment and services. The Six Pathways to Deflection framework represents common modes of response that various deflection sites around the country employ to support connections to behavioral health treatment, recovery support services, housing, case management, and other services. In this panel, TASC’s Center for Health and Justice will bring together three deflection sites from different communities to describe how their sites provide pathways to community. Each of the Pathways to Deflection will be discussed, paying close attention to the key elements of success for each, including information garnered from the program evaluations of Hero Help, Huntington QRT, and Plymouth County Outreach. The Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Comprehensive, Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program (COSSAP) provides grant funding to support the featured deflection programs and TASC’s Center for Health and Justice’s deflection training and technical assistance.

Learning Objectives:

Define deflection and understand its importance in ongoing substance use response strategies.
Become familiar with the Six Pathways to Deflection.
State the five critical elements of deflection responses.
Learn about deflection sites from different communities around the country.