Nancy Sullivan

Rural areas often face gaps in behavioral health resources, with limited availability and the need to travel long distances to access services. To address such challenges, innovative strategies, such as police deflection programs, help connect people in rural areas to treatment without an arrest. In order to advance understanding of rural deflection programs, we conducted a mixed-methods process evaluation of a rural state police-led deflection program, the Southern Illinois Community Engagement Response Team (SI CERT), serving seven counties. We examined who the program reached, how it was implemented in practice, and how collaboration among partners supported or constrained its goals. As part of the evaluation, we explored feedback from the program leadership team, which included deflection staff, law enforcement, and social service providers. We interviewed all 11 team members, and seven completed a collaboration survey. We found leadership team members supported the program and agreed that it was helping the community by referring individuals to supportive services. Program data showed that 223 participants were referred to the program; 66% voluntarily agreed to participate, and of those, 59% were referred to services. However, team members cited notable challenges, including limited resources, the composition of the leadership team, law enforcement engagement, and community visibility. Nonetheless, in its three years of development, the SI CERT program appears to hold promise in helping rural community members with substance use disorders. Future research can extend the scope of evaluation by incorporating participant perspectives and measuring program outcomes.

Police are called to the scene of violent crimes that involve victims who may need, but may not be offered, supportive services. To address this, a police-led deflection program, the East St. Louis Community Engagement Team (CERT), was established in Illinois. While police deflection programs have traditionally helped individuals with substance use challenges, this program sought to assist victims of violent crime. Since little is known about the application of deflection to this population, we conducted a process evaluation of ESL CERT. We sought feedback from program staff and stakeholders, including law enforcement and social service providers. We conducted interviews and administered surveys measuring collaboration with its leadership team made of 11 members, as well as conducted two field visits. Members noted that a strength of the program was that its staff successfully engaged with participants, which led to successful connections to services. However, noted weaknesses included limited support for the program from local service providers and a lack of agreement on whether the program was the most effective way to help individuals who were victims of crime. Our recommendations included improving program development, building trust among program stakeholders, addressing barriers to program engagement, increasing the program’s impact, and addressing program sustainability concerns.

Deflection programs are an emerging approach to redirect people who have experienced police contact away from the criminal legal system and toward supportive services, with the goal of improving outcomes for individuals, communities, the justice system, and public health. The Illinois Multi-Site Deflection Initiative is a groundbreaking project aimed at increasing the number of deflection programs in the state to help individuals who come into contact with police. Since 2021, the initiative has been spearheaded by the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) in partnership with the Illinois State Police and Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities (TASC). As of July 2024, the initiative has 11 programs operating or in the planning stage across 45 counties. IDHS funded the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA) to conduct an independent evaluation to study the programs’ planning, development, and operations, as well as assess and measure outcomes. We share the evaluation design, data, and challenges faced during this multi-year evaluation. The evaluation team’s process evaluation assesses program activities and offers recommendations for programmatic enhancement. We offer a point-in-time description of current evaluation activities and future plans.

A significant amount of police engagement involves persons with multiple service needs, such as substance use treatment or mental health services. Deflection allows officers and first responders the discretion to refer individuals to service providers without making an arrest. This evaluation examined the action planning process for a multijurisdictional police-led deflection program called Choices in rural Southwestern Illinois. Using field observations, document analysis, and participant surveys, researchers examined the collaborative process of developing an action plan for program implementation. We focused on participant engagement, the content of the action plan, the extent of collaboration, and areas for improvement. Key findings highlight the challenges of implementing deflection programs in rural areas, including limited treatment resources and transportation barriers. The action planning process successfully engaged diverse stakeholders and produced a comprehensive plan addressing program goals, tasks, responsibilities, and performance measures. Participant feedback indicated high levels of collaboration, though some areas for enhancement were identified. This evaluation contributes to the limited empirical research on police-led deflection programs and provides insights to guide future implementation efforts in rural communities.