Navajo County officials tout rural misdemeanor diversion program with 68% reported completion rate

Erin Eschabock, manager of Complete Care Partners, told the Navajo County Board of Supervisors that the county's misdemeanor diversion program offers an alternative to formal court proceedings for low-level offenders whose cases are tied to substance use or mental health conditions. "The Navajo County Attorney's Office has established a court diversion program to provide an alternative method of holding low level offenders accountable through participation in an evidence based education or treatment program," Eschabock said.

Eschabock said the program has enrolled 165 clients in Navajo County since it began local operations about two-and-a-half years ago and reported a 68 percent success rate among participants who completed the program. She described services including behavioral-health screenings, alcohol and drug testing, a sliding fee scale based on National Poverty Guidelines and the use of remote services and local care managers to address transportation barriers. "We don't kick people out if they are positive on a test," she said. "That's just a challenge they have."

County attorney staff framed the program as a rural incubator funded by a three-year Arizona legislative allocation. County attorney Brad Kauai said the program focuses on misdemeanor cases and frequent users of the criminal-justice system. "We want to get to them early before we rise to the felony level," he said, noting the program ties clinical treatment to supports that address social determinants of health such as housing and food security.

Presenters gave several participant examples to illustrate outcomes. Eschabock described a participant who completed treatment, secured employment and maintained sobriety long enough to care for a dying parent and said the program's graduates have collectively parented 128 children whose parents avoided a criminal record by successfully completing diversion.

Board members and staff asked about cost and sustainability. Kauai and Eschabock said the original state funding for the 12 rural counties is expiring and that the county is asking the state legislature to refill the program line; they said they may return with a county budget request if state funding is not restored. Kauai also urged supervisors to help make the program's case to municipal partners, saying town and city officials are seeing reduced calls for law enforcement where diversion is in place.

The board did not take a vote on program funding at the meeting; presenters closed by offering to provide additional information for future budget deliberations and legislative outreach.