Campbell County diversion pilot steers low-level defendants with serious mental illness toward treatment

Campbell County is running a pilot diversion program that routes some low-level defendants with serious mental illness into court-supervised treatment instead of prolonged jail stays, judges and program staff told the Mental Health & Vulnerable Adult Task Force on Aug. 22.

The pilot is a pre‑conviction program that, presenters said, accepts people charged with nonviolent misdemeanors who have identifiable serious mental illness and who volunteer to participate. Judge Matt Castano, a district court judge in the Sixth Judicial District, described the program as designed to “provide these people that oversight and that service so that they can stabilize, so that they can become housed, so that they can become employed, and they can become members of the community.”

Task force members said the pilot is intended to reduce repeated jail use and related costs while improving health outcomes. Ben Burningham, chief legal officer for the Administrative Office of the Courts, told the task force the program allows early engagement with treatment and “gets folks into treatment engaged in the program early, before the state incurs those costs of adjudication.” Program staff described a sequential‑intercept model with multiple referral paths: law enforcement on the street, jail booking and court appearances.

Campbell County staff said the pilot relies heavily on the county’s existing adult treatment court infrastructure. Chad Beaman, director of Campbell County adult treatment courts, said most referrals come from the jail nurse and that Volunteers of America provides contracted treatment; Scott Apley, the diversion case manager, said staff reach out to referred people within a day or two and try to avoid unnecessary custody. The team meets about every two weeks to decide admissions.

Program leaders described early numbers and lessons. Judge Castano reported 12 referrals to date, six screenings, two admissions and one participant who graduated; one screened person required involuntary hospital treatment under Title 25. The panel said many referrals screened out because needs exceeded what the pilot could provide, participants declined, or there were violent or complex criminal histories.

Presenters cited local and national statistics to explain the approach: they said about 4 percent of the general population and about 17 percent of the jail population have serious mental illness, and that roughly 72 percent of those jailed with serious mental illness also have co‑occurring substance use issues. Using the detention center’s per‑inmate housing figure of $130 per day, Judge Castano estimated the seven to ten Campbell County detainees who likely meet the pilot’s misdemeanor‑plus‑SMI profile represent about $910–$1,300 per day in detention costs.

Speakers emphasized non‑financial harms of detention, including interruption of community treatment, housing loss, exposure to trauma and increased suicide risk. Justice Fox and others said the pilot has been run on limited resources and that clinicians, court staff and county officials have taken on additional duties to launch it.

Program staff also identified gaps that limit referrals and success: lack of a local stabilization center, housing scarcity, variable participant readiness, and frequent co‑occurring substance use disorders. Beaman and Apley said individualized treatment and case management — rather than standard group formats — have been central to the pilot because many participants struggle in group settings or have trouble trusting authority figures. Staff said the project seeks to connect participants with housing, employment and community supports before charges are dismissed at successful graduation.

Department of Health officials and treatment providers praised the pilot as an important first step but warned that low statewide capacity — particularly housing and stabilization beds — and funding limits could restrict expansion. Andy Somerville, executive director of the Wyoming Association of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Centers, urged preserving non‑court referral pathways for people who do not need criminal charges to access treatment.

Task force members said they would fold the pilot’s findings and recommended policy items into the group’s final report and would continue tracking outcomes. No formal statewide policy change was adopted at the meeting; presenters asked for time to run the pilot longer while documenting costs and outcomes to inform broader implementation.