Attorney General Dave Sunday is planning a new program urging law enforcement to refer people with mental illness who commit minor crimes to treatment, rather than putting them behind bars.
Sunday, a first-term Republican, said in an interview the statewide program would be a new initiative, but mirror one already in place for those facing substance abuse disorder called the Law Enforcement Treatment Initiative.
“The data is overwhelming that for these low-level offenders, if they have access to treatment, it significantly decreases the likelihood of them overdosing, and also significantly increases public safety,” Sunday said. “And so we’ve identified that there’s a need for that as well in the mental health space.”
In addition to referrals from officers, LETI allows those facing substance abuse disorder to seek help through law enforcement agencies without fear of arrest or prosecution.
The office’s new mental health program would operate under the same goal, Sunday said.
Launched in 2020 by then-Attorney General Josh Shapiro, now governor, LETI was intended to shift the focus of substance abuse disorder from criminalization to treatment and recovery.
The new program would allow officers to decide whether to charge individuals in cases where the person may be experiencing symptoms of a mental or behavioral health disorder, similar to LETI’s rules for victims of substance abuse disorder.
Snyder County District Attorney Heath Brosius said LETI has helped divert and treat repeat offenders “without the need for bail modifications or a release from incarceration.”
Brosius said he’s aware of Sunday’s plans to potentially launch a mental health-focused initiative and that he supports the idea.
“There are a lot of calls to law enforcement from exasperated parents or loved ones who can no longer cope or divert the behavioral and mental health issues of their loved ones,” Brosius said. “When law enforcement is able to use LETI referrals as a ‘next step’ for these mental health cases, the individuals in most need of treatment will be able to get it.”
Christine Michaels is CEO of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Keystone Pennsylvania, which hosts 18 local chapters in counties including Lancaster, Dauphin, York and Berks.
Michaels said she knows of about 40 counties in Pennsylvania that offer crisis intervention team training to learn de-escalation techniques and avoid making arrests. Sunday’s mental health diversion program shows promise, Michaels said, as long as it shares the same goal.
Michaels also credited Sunday for having a “dedication” to increasing access to treatment services for those who need them.
LETI Results
As of May, the attorney general’s office said LETI has received more than 2,000 referrals across Pennsylvania since it began.
A 2024 Penn State University study of the Madison Area Recovery Initiative in Wisconsin, which LETI was modeled after, found such programs for adults who commit low-level, drug-use crime can “reduce crime recidivism, incarceration, and overdose deaths.”
Those are the results Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo said he’s seen on the ground since the county enrolled in LETI in 2020. He called it “one of many tools in the toolbox” to address substance abuse disorder.
Chardo said an expansion of LETI or a similar program tailored for mental health would be a welcome one, despite his office already hosting its own co-responders program, which sees behavioral health specialists respond to calls involving mental health or substance abuse issues with police officers.
Dauphin is among the 32 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties enrolled in LETI.
York County, where Sunday served as district attorney before winning the attorney general seat last year, is not a LETI participant. District Attorney Tim Barker said that’s because the county had already been working on pre-diversion initiatives before LETI was adopted.
But Barker said his office is still supportive of Sunday launching a similar program for mental health because it could serve as a “great baseline” for counties that do not have their own diversion programs.
County mental health offices — often the first point of contact for those in need, according to the Department of Human Services — administer critical services with state funding and oversight.
Pennsylvania has 47 mental health or substance abuse crisis walk-in center providers, as of March, according to the Department of Human Services. It also hosts 21 stabilization centers for short-term observation and services, 45 mobile and medical crisis providers, 35 crisis call centers and 14 call centers for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
The General Assembly has increased funding for county behavioral health systems by a combined $40 million in the last two state budgets signed by Shapiro.
The district attorney’s office in Lancaster County, also not enrolled in LETI, already partners with certified recovery specialists at SecondChance PA for a pre-arrest diversion program dealing with substance abuse, mental health and recovery support.
Erik Yabor, a spokesman for District Attorney Heather Adams, said in a statement his office would still consider any mental health program offered by Sunday’s office, “if not already addressed locally here in Lancaster.”
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