Process Evaluation of LEAD - Bernalillo County

• In Event: Diversion: Response Agencies and Programs

Abstract

In 2019, Bernalillo County and the City of Albuquerque implemented the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program, a pre-booking diversion program for individuals who are at risk of becoming involved, or those that have previously been involved, with the criminal justice system. In this evaluation, I employed a mixed-methods approach to detail implementation fidelity of LEAD - Bernalillo County by reviewing policy documents, program participant data (n = 313), surveys of sworn field officers at Albuquerque Police Department and Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office (n = 68), and semi-structured stakeholder interviews (n = 10). I present evidence of mixed implementation fidelity. On the one hand, the program has expanded referral volume and trainings, 61 officers at APD and BCSO have made at least one referral, and most interviewed stakeholders members perceived implementation as moderately successful. Conversely, limited community housing resources threaten the intervention’s Housing-First theoretical pathway, the dosage of case management services is lower than at other sites, the level of recovery support services provided is unknown, referrals by officers are heavily concentrated among a small subset, and the pace of increased referrals threaten to violate ICM caseload recommendations. We suggest evidence-based recommendations to improve implementation fidelity going forward.

Author

• Alexander Severson, University of New Mexico