National Governors Association to Work with Illinois, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania on Developing a State-Level Deflection and Pre-Arrest Diversion Initiative
WASHINGTON – Illinois, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania will participate in the National Governors Association’s (NGA) Learning Collaborative on Strategies to Support the Development of State-Level Deflection and Pre-Arrest Diversion (DPAD) Initiatives. This Learning Collaborative is a six-month-long opportunity designed to support the Governor’s office and other senior state officials in the development and implementation of a sustainable state-level DPAD initiative addressing the needs of individuals with substance use disorders (SUD).
Since 2015, there has been rapid growth in the number of DPAD programs operating in the United States, fueled by the rising rates of overdose deaths caused by the opioid epidemic and an increasing interest in community-driven models of policing. As interest in DPAD initiatives grows, many states are looking for ways to expand on the success of local DPAD initiatives. This Learning Collaborative seeks to promote these efforts by facilitating inter-agency collaboration and in-state partnerships with key organizations and stakeholders, with the goal of achieving a plan for sustainable state-wide implementation of effective DPAD initiatives.
With support and partnership from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and in collaboration with the Police, Treatment, and Community Collaborative (PTACC), NGA will help states to create an action plan to promote actionable policy changes within the six-month project timeline. The aim of this Learning Collaborative is to help states build and maintain a sustainable DPAD initiative, support statewide efforts to reduce the number of drug-related arrests, and increase access to care for people with SUD through effective state and institutional systems.
The Learning Collaborative will kick off with an in-person meeting of the state teams and will feature national, state, and local experts on January 30-31. This will be followed by six months of specialized technical assistance, as well as monthly state team calls, webinars, and possible in-state site visits.
The Learning Collaborative is the culmination of a year of learning calls and an experts’ roundtable that NGA hosted with national experts, Governors’ office staff and senior officials, researchers, and local organizations to better understand the current landscape and challenges from state leaders for implementing DPAD initiatives at the state level.
