Giving Compass' Take:

• The Laura and John Arnold Foundation will be funding community research to understand frequent utilizers of emergency services. It hopes to create a new crisis response model that diverts individuals out of jails and into targeted treatment programs.

• What other organizations can partner with philanthropists to work on diversion programs?

• Read about similar policy changes for youth who could benefit from private investments made to more opportunity programming.

The Laura and John Arnold Foundation (LJAF) today announced $4.1 million in funding to help local communities and researchers study new crisis response models that could better address people with mental illness and addiction who bounce between jails and hospitals.

Attention to Frequent Utilizers has escalated with the release of preliminary research that suggests the magnitude of the issue and the costs associated with it—both human and financial. The goal of LJAF’s pilot is to help emergency responders recognize Frequent Utilizers and divert them out of jail and into treatment programs that can address their root issues.

With LJAF funding, the jurisdictions will hire data scientists to collect and analyze information such as 911 calls, EMS transports, emergency department visits, and shelter records, looking for patterns that can help emergency responders identify people in crisis and connect them to the help they need. This form of data sharing among health, social service, and criminal justice systems represents an innovative and unprecedented partnership that LJAF hopes will serve as a model for other jurisdictions.

Read the full article about new crisis response model at Laura and John Arnold Foundation