Criminal Justice Interventions with Cross-Policy Impacts

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

Criminal justice interventions often aim to influence outcomes beyond those captured by criminal justice data systems. For example, interventions targeting drunk driving aim to reduce drunk driving behavior in addition to DUI arrests and accidents. Similarly, substance use diversion programs aim to reduce substance use disorder and overdoses through connections to treatment, in addition to reducing subsequent arrests for drug use or sales. Historically, measuring these non-criminal justice outcomes required access to data that was very difficult to achieve, limiting the field’s knowledge of how these interventions affect some of the primary outcomes they intend to influence. The four papers that comprise this panel all use novel administrative data to overcome these issues and provide insights into the impacts of a diverse set of criminal justice interventions, including mental health first response, police drug diversion, felony diversion at prosecution, and transmission interlock devices, on health, mental health, housing, and substance use outcomes. 

Each paper leverages a strong quasi-experimental design to identify causal impact of an intervention. The panel will also feature a knowledgeable chair and discussants who will provide commentary on the methods, application, and policy relevance of the findings. In all, the panel offers a comprehensive view of the health and well-being effects of many common criminal justice interventions that aim to disrupt the frequent cycle of individuals with mental health, substance use, and housing needs through our nation's criminal justice systems.

Policy Area

• Crime, Justice, and Drugs

Chair

• Alissa Julia Skog, University of California, Berkeley

Discussants

• Greg Midgette, University of Maryland

• Omair Gill, University of California, Berkeley

Organizer

• Johanna Lacoe, University of California, Berkeley

Individual Presentations

• Impacts of Felony Diversion on Health and Housing Outcomes in San Francisco - Presenting Author: Johanna Lacoe, University of California, Berkeley; Non-Presenting Co-Author: Stephen Paolillo, University of California, Davis; Non-Presenting Co-Author: Alissa Julia Skog, University of California, Berkeley; Non-Presenting Co-Author: Steven Raphael, University of California, Berkeley

• Mental-Health First Responders Reduce Involuntary Psychiatric Detentions - Presenting Author: Thomas Dee, Stanford University

• Transforming Criminal Justice Responses to Substance Use: Impacts on Crime, Housing, and Health Outcomes - Presenting Author: Ashna Arora, Arnold Ventures; Non-Presenting Co-Author: Panka Bencsik, Vanderbilt University

• The Effects of Mandatory Ignition Interlock Devices on DUI Recidivism - Presenting Author: Steven Raphael, University of California, Berkeley