Tennessee early diversion network - the tennessee department of mental health and substance abuse services (TDMHSAS), division of children and youth mental health services, office of juvenile…

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services $1.3 million on September 30, 2026, under the Center for Mental Health Services Projects of Regional and National Significance program (CFDA 93.532) to implement the Tennessee Early Diversion Network.

The recipient will divert Davidson County youth under age 18 with mental illness or co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders to community-based services before arrest or booking. Working in partnership with Youth Villages and a countywide early pre-arrest/booking diversion coalition, the project will identify youth earlier, stabilize behavioral health needs, strengthen family engagement, and improve coordination among law enforcement, schools, crisis response, juvenile justice, substance use disorder treatment, and community behavioral health partners. SAMHSA-funded services are limited to youth identified and diverted before arrest or booking.

Davidson County was selected as a high-impact catchment area: the county has an under-19 population averaging 147,338.4 and an average of 4,125.2 juvenile court referrals across 2017–2022. In 2021–2023, Davidson County reported the highest numerical Tennessee substate estimate for any mental illness among adults at 29.2%, and 13.8% of adolescents ages 12–17 reported serious thoughts of suicide in the past year. Among youth exiting Department of Children's Services custody in the county, 21% reentered within one year, compared with the statewide FY2025 custody recidivism rate of 13%.

Performance runs through September 29, 2031, at the recipient's Nashville location.

Tennessee early diversion network - the tennessee department of mental health and substance abuse services (TDMHSAS), division of children and youth mental health services, office of juvenile justice programming, will implement the tennessee early diversion network in davidson county, tennessee. In partnership with youth villages and a countywide early pre-arrest/booking diversion coalition, the project will divert davidson county youth under age 18 with mental illness or CO-occurring mental health and substance use disorders to community-based services before arrest or booking. Samhsa-funded services will be limited to youth identified and diverted before arrest or booking. The project will identify youth earlier, stabilize behavioral health needs, strengthen family engagement, and improve coordination among law enforcement, schools, crisis response, juvenile justice, substance use disorder treatment, and community behavioral health partners. Davidson county is a high-impact catchment area due to behavioral health need, youth population size, juvenile justice contact, unmet demand, and implementation readiness. Davidson county has an average under-19 population of 147,338.4 and an average of 4,125.2 juvenile court referrals across available years from 2017-2022. In 2021-2023, davidson county had the highest numerical tennessee substate estimate for any mental illness among adults at 29.2%, and 13.8% of adolescents ages 12-17 reported serious thoughts of suicide in the past year. County prioritization data also show 66 davidson youth exiting DCS custody and 14 reentering within one year, a 21% reentry rate compared with the FY2025 statewide custody recidivism rate of 13%. The population of focus is davidson county youth under age 18 who are at risk of arrest, booking, detention, court referral, or deeper juvenile justice involvement if behavioral health needs are not addressed earlier. Youth may present with depression, anxiety, trauma symptoms, suicidal ideation, behavioral dysregulation, disruptive behavior, substance use concerns, school disruption, caregiver stress, family instability, or medication-management needs. Eligible youth will be identified through non-custodial pre-booking referral opportunities, metro nashville public schools truancy and school resource officer contacts, mental health cooperative crisis response, STARS nashville CO-occurring disorder referrals, families, caregivers, pediatric and emergency care settings, and other community or first-responder contacts. The project will implement all required early diversion activities, including early diversion community system mapping, an early diversion plan, community-based behavioral health services, coalition meetings, annual training, social-service coordination, and sustainability planning. Youth villages will employ three early diversion specialists, each with caseloads of up to 10 youth/families, creating 30 active service slots. The service model will use motivational interviewing and collaborative problem solving to engage youth and caregivers, reduce escalation risk, build problem-solving and self-regulation skills, and support connection to care. The project will serve 80 unduplicated youth in year 1 and 120 youth annually in years 2-5, for 560 youth total. Key objectives include screening at least 90% of eligible referrals within 48 hours, initiating stabilization/service plans for at least 85% of enrolled youth, completing warm handoffs for at least 80% of youth, and training at least 100 stakeholders annually.