The Chicago Reporter (5/24/18) 

Everyone is talking about diversion from the criminal justice system... 

The potential is much greater if the concept of diversion is expanded to "deflection," said Jac Charlier, national director of justice initiatives at Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities, based in Chicago....

The goal is to offer help to people before they are in crisis, Charlier said. The key is a "warm hand-off," he said, an immediate connection with a treatment provider who may meet an officer and an individual who wants help on the scene or at an emergency room. A referral to an appointment two or three weeks later "is probably not going to help." 

He calls deflection "a game changer" both for improving communities and for improving police-community relations.

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