You say you want public safety? Diversion programs are it.

What is a diversion program?

Diversion programs can happen at any point in a person’s life – and their singular goal is to keep folks out of the prison system. They come in many shapes, sizes, and forms (and exist for youth, too), and can happen before someone even encounters a situation with the police. 

Diversion programs can also happen before an arrest, before a charge is made, and before a trial has happened. They seek the underlying cause of behavior: ranging from substance (ab)use, to a lack of affordable, accessible housing, to food insecurity. 

Diversion programs work to address the underlying issues in the community: access to food, access to affordable, accessible housing, access to treatment: these can all keep someone out of prison. 

So then, what’s recidivism?

Recidivism is the rate at which folks who are convicted of a crime re-offend. 

The three-year recidivism rate in Texas is 20.3% – which means that 3 years after release, over 20% of people who are convicted of crimes end up back in prison in Texas. The nationwide rate is even higher: “almost 44% of [convicted people] released return before the first year out of prison.”

From an economic standpoint, each additional year of incarceration costs $56,200 – $66,800. The prison system is morally repugnant, and it’s just bad for the country as a whole – we are incentivized as taxpayers to use data and diversion programs to lower the rates at which folx are imprisoned: it’s better for our bottom line.

Diversion is public safety.

Jail, prosecution, and prison alone do little to defer future criminal behavior: because the underlying, root cause of the behavior has not been dealt with. Diversion programs, however, seek the underlying factors that led to an alleged offense – and then seek to rectify those factors so that a person can avoid prison time.

A 2018 study of Harris County’s diversion programs revealed that “Diversion substantially decreased a person’s future convictions by 48 percent 10 years” – that means we’ve almost halved our community’s recidivism rate with these programs – if there is access to them.

While the data holds that diversion programs are economically, as well as morally, beneficial, access to these programs is fraught. Sometimes the programs are “pay to play,” meaning that historically underpaid communities can lack access.

Sometimes it falls to prosecutors to decide who is “worthy” of diversion because, “Even when an individual qualifies based on their charge, criminal record, or need for treatment, they must ultimately be offered diversion.”

Equal access to diversion programs will produce a safer society by diverting someone’s potential to re-offend and resourcing them with organizations, relationships, and aid that can help them avoid more prison time. 

It is in all of our best interests to support diversion programs.
By: Beck Havens
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