WATCH: Bill would boot violent criminals from mental health programs

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(The Center Square) – A new bill in the California Legislature would block violent criminals from accessing mental health diversion programs to avoid criminal penalties.

Senate Bill 1373, introduced by state Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, would reform the mental health diversion program, which was created by Assembly Bill 1810 in 2018. The program allows those facing criminal charges to be diagnosed with a mental health disorder, undergo a mental health treatment program and have charges dismissed.

Under current law, mental health diversion programs for felonies often require two years of treatment, while treatment programs for misdemeanor charges often only last for one year. After completion of that treatment, charges are dismissed and do not appear on a defendant’s criminal record, according to Grove’s office.

“My bill will ensure that those who commit violent crimes, such as attempted murder of a child, assault resulting in death and domestic violence, are no longer eligible for a mental health diversion program,” Grove said Tuesday at a press conference announcing the bill.

“It will allow judges to have full discretion and not grant diversion if the judge feels they are a threat to future public safety," the senator said at the Capitol in Sacramento.

The bill would also ensure prosecutors have the tools necessary to validate a mental health diagnosis that would allow a defendant to qualify for mental health diversion, Grove said.

According to a fact sheet about SB 1373, current state law allows for mental health diversion for those facing certain criminal offenses, like child abuse, human trafficking, kidnapping, carjacking, gross vehicular manslaughter and attempted murder. Supporters of the bill said if passed into law, the legislation would make repeat offenders of at least two felonies ineligible for any diversion programs.

There is also currently no statutory definition for what qualifies someone as a mental health expert who could render a diagnosis considered in court, another facet of the state’s mental health diversion program Grove’s bill aims to change.

Under the bill, courts adjudicating such cases would have to schedule a hearing to determine if mental health diversion is appropriate for a defendant.

“When a well-intentioned policy takes away judicial discretion, and doesn’t well-define who the mental health expert is who is going to help adjudicate, what could possibly go wrong?” Sen. Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks, said during the press conference. “We have a perfect example of unintended consequences.”

According to data from the Judicial Council of California, 17,152 criminal cases were granted mental health diversion between July 2019 and December 2024. The diversion allowed those facing misdemeanor and felony charges to undergo mental health treatment and have their charges stricken from the record. Of that number, 9,130 were felony cases, according to that data.

There are other issues inherent in the state’s mental health diversion program, according to a 2024 study. Research published in March 2024 in the Journal of Offender Rehabilitation found that while California’s mental health diversion program initially seemed to offer a way to address racial disparities in the state’s incarcerated population, there were limited efforts to track racial demographics for the participants. Researchers also found that there were limitations to diversion programs available to those who qualified for them, something lawmakers pointed out in Tuesday’s press conference.

“You’re only allowed to give diversion if a suitable placement exists,” said Assemblymember Maggy Krell, D-Sacramento, during the press conference. “We don’t have enough money or enough placements for all the cases that could qualify for diversion, so by narrowing the class and by increasing the court’s discretion, we’re allowing those who would truly benefit from diversion to really have an opportunity to have a slot in those programs.”

A report from the California Policy Lab found that between 1978 and 2008, the rate of incarcerated people in the state increased from 133 to 100,000 people to 431 per 100,000. Between 1980 and 2016, the number of people on probation or parole increased from 1.3 million to 4.5 million, which the report stated was costly to taxpayers.

That study ultimately found that diversion programs reduced additional conviction rates for those previously charged with drug-related crimes and “offenses against a person,” as well as re-arrest rates for youth offenders and those with no prior felony convictions.

“There are cases throughout the state that exemplify the way the mental health diversion system is being abused,” Krell added. “We believe in mental health diversion. We absolutely believe that it can be effective, some defendants should get a chance to complete mental health diversion, and that it is an effective way to deal with certain crimes.”

However, Krell continued, some crimes in which those facing serious charges do get mental health diversion are too severe for defendants to be able to walk away from those charges.

“Some of these crimes aren’t even eligible for probation,” Krell added. “So when you’re talking about abuse of a child causing death, repeat of domestic violence, these are really serious offenses with a high level of public safety impact, obviously for the victims and impact for the court system as well.”