Thurston commission to expand LEAD diversion program for non-violent offenders
Thurston County will expand a program that diverts non-violent, low-level offenders to support services rather than arrest or jail time.
The county’s Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) Program has been operating in a pilot stage since July 2021.
During a Tuesday meeting, the Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved a $1.1 million contract with the Washington state Health Care Authority to continue the program through June 30, 2023.
“This is a lot of money to help us expand and extend,” Commissioner Tye Menser said during the meeting. “This program, so far, so good, is working really successfully. I think this is just an exciting thing for folks to be aware of.”
The contract allocates funding for intensive case management and program management services for people who have recently been arrested or who are at high risk of arrest, according to the agenda item summary.
Since the county started the program, over 100 individuals have been referred to the program and about two-thirds of those referrals have come from participating law enforcement agencies, county manager Ramiro Chavez said.
In a Friday news release, Public Defense director Patrick O’Connor said he felt grateful individuals “in dire need of an act of humanity” have the opportunity to benefit from this program.
“Law Enforcement’s commitment to this program is changing lives without traditional justice system involvement,” O’Connor said in the release. “Thurston County Public Defense supports these and other progressive interventions where our community members struggling with significant behavioral health challenges receive the help and support they need without an arrest and prosecution.”
Commissioner Carolina Mejia shared her support for the program in the release as well, saying she felt proud of the program so far.
“This program has changed people’s lives, and will continue to change lives,” Mejia said. “It has the potential to become a primary method of promoting community safety.”
The Thurston Mason Behavioral Health Administrative Service Organization manages the program and Olympic Health and Recovery Services provides case management services.
The program partners with local law enforcement and the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office to issue referrals. A Community Advisory Board, Steering Committee and Operations work group oversee the program.
In January 2021, the board approved a $925,593 contract with the state Health Care Authority, which selected Thurston County for this pilot program, the Olympian previously reported.
Neighboring Mason County set up a similar program with HCA funding in June 2020.
In a Wednesday “Coffee with a Commissioner” livestream, Menser interviewed two people involved in Thurston County’s version of the program: Wayne Graham with the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and LEAD Program Manager Jason Bean-Mortinson.
Officials from the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, the Sheriff’s Office and Public Health and Social Services worked together to secure HCA funding and get the program started, Graham said.
Referrals into the program come about in two ways, he said. Social referrals can come from a variety of avenues while arrest alternative referrals occur before someone is placed in jail.
Graham said law enforcement have been proactively issuing social referrals to people they come into frequent contact with. Other referrals can come from community partners and outreach services.
The ideal participants are those who may not be successful in traditional treatment programs and need more direct guidance, Bean-Mortinson said.
“Maybe they just need some extra support, or their life situation is so complex that handing them an appointment card to go to a treatment center isn’t a realist plan,” he said. “Case managers are able to meet with them, walk with them to ensure they take the steps to help them be more successful and stable.”
Graham said the LEAD program aims to support people who have not been helped by the traditional criminal justice system.
“There’s some gaps in the traditional system, and that’s where programs like LEAD are trying to fill in some of those gaps,” he said.
The “vast majority” of people referred into the program have willingly engaged with support services,” Bean-Mortinson said.
“There have been big and small things like helping someone get a driver’s license that’s valid and people enrolling in college,” he said. “There’s been a lot of shifts in people’s lives that I don’t know would have happened without a program like this.”
So far, the program has partnered with the Sheriff’s Office and the cities of Lacey and Tumwater. Graham said they have also partner with the Department of Corrections and are starting to expand into Yelm.
Eventually, he said they hope to engage with the city of Olympia and the Nisqually and Chehalis tribes.
Additional HCA funding will help the program expand into more areas and add another case manager to the team, Bean-Mortinson said.
“I think there’s going to be a lot of growth over this next year,” he said. “It’s really exciting to have that stability of funding and the confidence of the community.”
Given the success so far, Menser said in the livestream that the board hopes to continue the program past the end date of the current contract.
This story was originally published February 11, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
