Increasing diversion, reducing incarceration continued concern for Oklahoma County

The diversion programs and partners working with the Oklahoma County jail say the goal of the work they are doing is to help Oklahoma stop topping national lists for incarceration through work on the front end of the criminal justice process.

The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber hosted a panel discussion Wednesday to educate community members and business leaders on the efforts of the Diversion Hub, The Education & Employment Ministry (TEEM), drug court and other diversion programs operating through the local criminal justice system.

"When you look at it on a national average or even a global average, we're like really, really good at sending people to prison,” said Oklahoma County District Judge Kenneth Stoner. “It doesn't really make a city safer, it just costs a lot of money. And so we're uniquely situated in the way that there's so many things that are moving in the right direction right now that we could become a model community.”

Stoner said the use of diversion programs and investment in opportunities like drug, mental health and veterans' courts paired with pretrial and community sentencing services from partners like TEEM and the Diversion Hub can take Oklahoma from last to first.

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The programs these partners offer provide an opportunity to address one of the most common ongoing complaints about Oklahoma County's troubled jail — overpopulation. The jail, originally rated for a capacity of 1,200, held as many as 2,600 people at its peak in 2004.

According to Timothy Tardibono, executive director of the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Advisory Council, the jail population has been reduced by about 1,000 people with the bulk of that reduction occurring since 2017 thanks to investment in diversion programs.

"We know that treatment works, rehabilitation works. People can be redeemed and restored and moved in the right direction,” Tardibono said. “And I think in Oklahoma a lot of times we don't believe that.”

Diversion is a layered approach with varying organizations providing assistance to people at different places in the criminal justice journey. The Diversion Hub and TEEM, while both offering services to help people in the time before trial, have differing approaches.

TEEM's pretrial services include identifying people who can be bailed out of jail at no cost on the condition of agreeing to follow the group's program. At the Diversion Hub, those wanting to use services must secure their own release first.

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In both instances, people are provided case management that includes access to employment, substance abuse, mental health and other services as necessary, along with support to comply with attendance for court dates and payment schedules. The goal through both options is also to provide intervention that can reduce the risk that participants will end up in prison.

“Someone who goes to prison is not going to get all of the assistance and accountability and support that they need, and in fact they're going to come out probably without housing, without a job, without an income stream, any of those things,” said Jaime Patterson, director of diversion services at TEEM. “They're far more likely to reoffend at that point than they would have been if we had just helped them to begin with.”

Damon Britton, executive director of the Diversion Hub, in response to an audience question said work to address the prohibitive nature of fines and fees in the criminal justice system is another concern of many diversion programs. Justice-involved individuals are often placed on minimal payment plans after completing a sentence, he said.

Britton said changes will need to come at a legislative level from people recognizing "fines and fees as a debtors' prison" keep people from moving forward.

"I've served my time. I've been through all of the rehabilitation services, but I still owe $5,000 and me making 10 bucks an hour at McDonald's is not getting any farther ahead," he said. "I think we need more action."

In addition to the work to divert people within the jail, Tardibono also mentioned efforts to help law enforcement divert people from ending up in the jail in the first place. Recent discussions among criminal justice advocates in Oklahoma City have looked at programs from other states including Oregon's CAHOOTS, Colorado's STAR and the LEAD program spearheaded in Washington state. These programs look to provide police with alternatives to arresting those suffering from mental health or substance use issues.

"Police departments all over the country started looking at what are our interactions and they're starting to recognize that there are things they can do better, especially related to interactions with the mental health community, homeless community, people in substance abuse,” Tardibono said.

The panelists pointed out that there is room to expand the work being done in diversion in Oklahoma City and Oklahoma County. Stoner and Patterson said one of the most important areas that needs work is ensuring that everyone who qualifies for the programs is being given the opportunities to take part in them.

“Going to prison costs more — costs $24,000 a year to incarcerate, $5,000 a year to treat. You have lower recidivism in drug court, higher recidivism in DOC (Department of Corrections),” Stoner said. “It’s what I call a one-question IQ test: What should we be doing more of?”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Chamber focuses on impacts of local diversion efforts at County jail