Effectiveness of Criminal Justice Liaison and Diversion Services for Offenders With Mental Disorders: A Review

Criminal justice liaison and diversion (CJLD) services, such as mental health courts, are designed to identify offenders with mental disorders and link them to appropriate community services. But are they effective? A literature review of the best available evidence showed that CJLD services appear effective and have positive impacts on outcomes. Nonetheless, the authors were troubled by the marked lack of rigorous studies and noted the difficulty of evaluating local programs in the absence of a national policy for CJLD service models.