Washoe county: behavioral health early diversion project - washoe county, nevada will establish a countywide pre-arrest behavioral health diversion pathway for youth and adults with mental illness…

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded Washoe County $744,892 on September 30, 2026, under the Center for Mental Health Services Projects of Regional and National Significance program (CFDA 93.532) to establish a countywide pre-arrest behavioral health diversion pathway for youth and adults with mental illness or co-occurring substance use disorders in Washoe County, Nevada.

The project will screen individuals at risk of justice involvement, provide care navigation and warm handoffs to treatment and social services, deliver training to partner agencies, and monitor performance. The initiative builds on the county's existing Sequential Intercept Model, Partner Agency Team structure, and crisis response system rather than creating parallel programs. The project will serve 300 unduplicated individuals in year one, 450 annually in years two through five, and 2,100 total over the five-year period. Target populations include youth under age 18 and adults age 18 and older presenting with mental illness, serious emotional disturbance, or co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders; participants may also present with psychiatric crises, suicidal ideation, housing instability, and unmet service needs. Veterans will receive dedicated screening and referral pathways in every project year. The project operates across Washoe County, including Reno-Sparks and rural communities (population 507,280), with administrative oversight in Reno, Nevada. The project runs through September 29, 2028. Implementation occurs through an Early Diversion Coalition including representatives from the Washoe County Human Services Agency and other behavioral health and justice sector partners.

Washoe county: behavioral health early diversion project - washoe county, nevada will establish a countywide pre-arrest behavioral health diversion pathway for youth and adults with mental illness or CO-occurring substance use disorders. Building on the county's sequential intercept model (SIM), partner agency team (PAT), and crisis response system, the project will add screening, care navigation, warm handoffs, training, and performance monitoring rather than create parallel structures. The washoe county behavioral health early diversion project will serve washoe county, nevada (population 507,280), including reno-sparks and rural communities. IT will serve 300 unduplicated individuals in year 1, 450 annually in years 2-5, and 2,100 total over five years, connecting these individuals to the care and services needed to support diversion from justice involvement. The population served will be youth (under age 18) and adults (age 18 and older) with mental illness, serious emotional disturbance, or CO-occurring mental health and substance use disorders who are at risk of criminal or juvenile justice involvement. Participants may present with psychiatric crises, suicidal ideation, alcohol- or drug-related crises, housing instability, and unmet treatment or social-service needs. Veterans will be served in every project year through veteran-status screening and a named referral pathway. Existing data illustrates strong need for this type of early diversion pathway in northern nevada. In 2025, renown crisis care center alone recorded 6,810 crisis encounters, including 311 encounters (4.6%) that ended in jail custody, while the washoe county mobile outreach safety team (most) averages approximately 2,700-2,800 annual crisis encounters. The project will be implemented through an early diversion coalition built on the existing PAT and including representatives across the county's behavioral health and justice sectors such as the washoe county human services agency, northern nevada hopes, quest counseling, vitality unlimited, renown crisis care center, the second judicial district court, the public defender's office, and the washoe county sheriff's office. Partners will convene at least quarterly to develop and implement the early diversion plan, with key activities including expanding screening, crisis intervention, referral, and social-service coordination; engaging a renown case manager to strengthen discharge planning and connections to care; and providing training to law enforcement and community providers. The project will improve early identification, establish a reliable pre-arrest pathway, strengthen cross-system coordination, and build workforce and data capacity. At least 75% of enrolled participants who consent to referral will receive a documented real-time transfer or confirmed intake appointment within seven days. Each year, the project will train at least 50 law enforcement or dispatcher personnel and 50 providers, outreach staff, and community partners, while reporting required spars measures and local outcomes such as referral completion, time to service, and diversion rate. This data will also be used to illustrate program impact, and, as needed, support sustainability planning by sharing this impact with potential future funders. Sustainability is built into the project design. All grant-funded positions and partner subawards will be term-limited and scaled to the federal award, creating no permanent county FTE or general-fund backfill obligation. Existing baseline services will continue independently of the grant. By the end of year 3, the coalition will begin implementing a sustainability plan that identifies which components can continue through medicaid reimbursement, the washoe opioid abatement and recovery fund, philanthropy, or other non-federal support and which incremental activities will be reduced, discontinued, or shifted to other agencies if replacement funding is not available.