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City-backed diversion program reports high engagement for people with mental-health needs
Summary
INSTEAD, a community-based diversion partnership including Ubuntu Village, the Orleans Parish district attorney and the public defender, told the council it has connected most participants to mental-health services and sustained engagement after diversion.
Program leaders representing INSTEAD — a community-based diversion partnership of Ubuntu Village NOLA, the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office and the Orleans Public Defenders — presented results to the City Council Thursday and urged continued support for the model.
Max Lauer, INSTEAD program director, and Ally Daugherty, program coordinator, described the effort as a community-focused "off-ramp" for people arrested on charges related to mental-health crises. The program conducts hour-plus intakes, connects clients to mental-health and substance-use treatment, helps secure identification and housing, and arranges ongoing case management.
"Those type of intakes really build trust," Daugherty said, describing repeated case-management contacts that helped clients obtain housing and sustained services.
Public Defender representative Barksdale Hortenstein and Daniel Shanks of the district attorney’s office framed the program as a rare cross-institution collaboration: both prosecution and defense participating in a diversion pathway that can reduce recidivism while addressing public safety and individual health needs. Shanks noted that approximately 75 percent of referrals have completed diversion successfully and about three-quarters of completers continue voluntary engagement with services.
Program leaders said the model reduces repeat arrests and hospital cycling by meeting people’s immediate needs — phones, IDs, housing navigation and linkages to mental-health care — while providing a legal pathway that keeps participants from reentering the traditional prosecution loop.
Ending: Council members praised the results and urged continued funding and interagency coordination; several members urged the administration to consider the program as part of broader criminal-justice reform and asked for follow-up reports during budget season.
