An official website of the State of Maryland.

Maryland.gov Translate

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Governor's Office of Crime Prevention and Policy

Deflection and Diversion Initiatives

Background

The Governor's Office of Crime Prevention and Policy provides funding, technical assistance, and implementation resources to help communities develop programs and partnerships that address both crime and the impacts of substance use disorder (SUD).

Diversion and Deflection Programs

Research shows a strong correlation between SUD and criminal justice involvement, and shows that connecting people to treatment and support early can improve outcomes and reduce long-term costs.

The Office supports deflection and pre-arrest diversion models that connect individuals with SUD to treatment and community services instead of, or before, involvement in the criminal justice system.

These models include, but are not limited to:

  • Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD): A pre-booking model that deflects individuals engaging in low-level crime before, or at the point of an arrest, to long-term care management providers (e.g., case managers, Certified Peer Recovery Specialists). This model creates a shared intention among all stakeholders, including law enforcement officers, prosecutors, public defenders, and community leaders.
  • Public Health-Led Defection: A model that targets individuals facing an acute risk of overdose or individuals who have already experienced an overdose, and connects them to treatment services. Key stakeholders include treatment providers and clinicians, care management staff, law enforcement, and first responders.
  • Pretrial Release Engagement: A model that targets individuals pre-adjudication, and connects them to treatment. Participation in services may minimize an individual’s sentence or count toward time served. Key stakeholders include the public defender, judges, detention center staff, and care management staff.

Statewide Support

The Office has established the Maryland Deflection & Pre-Arrest Diversion Framework (MDDF) as a statewide model for employing innovative alternatives to punitive responses to low-level crime. The primary goals of this approach are to: 

  • Reduce substance use disorder-related overdose deaths in designated project implementation areas,
  • Reduce the recidivism of participants,
  • Reduce calls for service for drug-related activity,
  • Reduce criminal justice costs,
  • Increase access to permanent housing,
  • Increase participants’ average income,
  • Improve community perceptions of police, and
  • Improve police understanding and response to issues related to addiction and mental health.

To support deflection and diversion programs, the Office administers funding through the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP), formerly known as COAP, funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance.

Since 2019, the Office has received $12.5 million in COSSUP funding to support LEAD, public health-led, and pretrial release engagement programs in 12 Maryland jurisdictions. Programs funded by the Office aim to reduce opioid overdose deaths while increasing access to treatment and recovery services, and contribute to a significant reduction in overdose fatalities and overdose-related hospitalizations, compared to non-funded jurisdictions.

The Office has created an interactive dashboard that identifies all Maryland subrecipients of the grant award since Federal Fiscal Year 2019, and their current grant status. To review this dashboard, view the COSSUP Interactive Map.

Program Evaluation

At the direction of the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, and in collaboration with program partners and technical assistance providers, the Maryland Statistical Analysis Center (the Center), developed guidance for collecting and reporting data for programs funded under the Federal Fiscal Year 2019 awards.

The Center, along with various research centers across Maryland, support action-oriented research, performance measurement, and program evaluation for all funded sites.

For reporting requirements, see the following resources:

To review the evaluation of sites funded under the Federal Fiscal Year 2019, view the Evaluation of Maryland’s Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion Program - PDF - 1.54 MB. To review the Federal Fiscal Year 2022 evaluation of sites, view, Assessing the Impact of Local COAP Programs - PDF - 2.29 MB.

Technical Assistance Materials

In collaboration with the LEAD Support Bureau—the national technical assistance provider for the LEAD model—the Office provides templates of relevant policy and operations documents critical to the success of a deflection or pre-arrest diversion program. To use these template documents, please view: