Low-level drug and prostitution offenders in North Long Beach and nearby communities may soon get help instead of prosecution when a new pilot program begins in September.

The Los Angeles County Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion Program, or LEAD, will divert some offenders to social services like rehabilitation, counseling and stable housing in an effort to reduce crime.

“For the most part, this program diverts low-grade offenders to services,” Long Beach City Prosecutor Doug Haubert said. “Everyone agrees that if these services are successful then this is a program that will reduce crime and improve public safety in the communities affected.”

To be eligible for LEAD, a person has to be arrested or have a criminal history related to drugs or prostitution, according to Haubert. He says the city often sees that women who are detained for prostitution also suffer from substance abuse or addiction and are often victims of sex trafficking.

The program is funded by a $5.9 million state grant, of which Long Beach has so far received about $700,000. Proponents expect about 300 people will receive help over the 26-month pilot.

The program area will include a 5-mile area around Long Beach Boulevard, including the 105 and 710 freeways, part of the L.A. River and a large homeless encampment, including parts of Lynwood and Compton.

Haubert said this represents a rare example of different law enforcement agencies collaborating closely to solve a problem: 17 agencies and departments in Los Angeles County are partnering, including several police departments, the District Attorney’s office, the Office of Diversion and Reentry and the Office of the Public Defender.

A team from Cal State Long Beach will also be evaluating the county program over the two years it will be running.

Long Beach was included in the grant because it already had a similar diversion program for women detained for prostitution. The Directed Services Program has shown to be effective in helping women break away from the influence of pimps and get out of prostitution, officials said.

Long Beach has “a pretty deep understanding of what it actually takes to support people in this population because of their experience,” said Shoshanna Scholar, who will be overseeing the LEAD program in Los Angeles county.

Participants in the city program are required to go to a certain number of counseling sessions over the span of several weeks in order to get their case dismissed. The program offers stable housing, trauma care, mentors and tattoo removal, among other services.

Program origins

The idea for the county program originated in Seattle in 2011 as a result of the city not having enough money to continue prosecuting low-level drug offenders during the 2008 recession. There was also contention about the extreme racial disparity in low-level drug arrests – 60 percent of those arrested for low-level drug possession or sales were black in a city that only had an 8 percent black population, according to Kris Nyrop, who was part of the group that started LEAD.

“[We said] what if we could take what is almost uniformly a bad experience – getting arrested and going to jail – and change it into something that was potentially positive for the individual? And what if that actually resulted in better outcomes for the community? And what if it was cheaper?” said Nyrop, who is now the National Director of the LEAD National Support Bureau.

The program proved to be effective in reducing criminal recidivism rates in a study conducted by an independent team of evaluators from the University of Washington. The results surprised even the creators of the program: people who were diverted were 58 percent less likely to be arrested on a new charge, have fewer long-term felony charges, spend 39 fewer days in jail and are 87 percent less likely to be incarcerated later. Costs associated with arrests and prosecution were also reduced.

Since 2011, other LEAD and LEAD-like programs have started and continue to develop all over the US. San Francisco also received a $5.9 million grant from the state to start a pilot LEAD program.

How it works

The program here will run similar to the one in Seattle, with some differences based on state laws and other factors.

Before booking, offenders who meet the criteria for the program will be referred by police officers. The eligible individuals can decide if they want to participate or be booked and prosecuted. If they decide to participate, they will be assigned a case manager who does a brief assessment and asks them what their immediate needs are.

Scholar said that interim housing is typically an immediate need. There is a follow up meeting where the case manager and the individual create an in-depth intervention plan specific to the person. Individuals who complete the program will not have the offense on their record.

Participants can also come through the “social contact door,” meaning they can be referred by someone in the community. This was added because in Seattle, police officers were finding that people were willing to implicate themselves in drug offenses in order to get the help they needed.

Potential challenges

Officials said they don’t expect an overnight change in those who are diverted. Recovery is usually a long process and they expect relapses, but it does not automatically kick them out of the program.

“A lot of people have very unrealistic expectations about ‘fixing people’ and they think that you ought to be able to ‘fix people’ quickly,” Nyrop said. “The reality is that if you’ve been homeless for 20-something years and you have mental health issues and you have chemical dependency or substance use issues, there is not going to be an easy or quick solution.”

One difference between Seattle and Los Angeles is how serious drug offenses are treated in the two states. In Washington, offenders are faced with the choice of prison time or LEAD because most drug offenses are a felony, so there was much more willingness to participate. In California, laws are more relaxed and many drug offenses are only misdemeanors, so some offenders may be more willing to pay a small fine than to get clean. Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey agreed to include low-level felony drug cases in the pilot to help get more participants.

“My initial thought was that there might not be much incentive for misdemeanors to participate [for those reasons],” said Peter Espinoza, the director of the Director of the Office of Diversion and Reentry.

“… We’re also mindful of the fact that a lot of people we’re going to encounter have been chronically homeless and chronically addicted for many years and we hope to encounter folks who have just hit bottom and are willing to accept services.”