Early Diversion Project Coordinator

Casa Esperanza, Inc. is a bilingual/bicultural behavioral health treatment provider serving Boston and the Merrimack Valley. Our mission is to empower individuals and families to recover from addiction, trauma, mental illness, and other chronic medical conditions; overcome homelessness and discrimination; and achieve health and wellness through comprehensive, integrated care.

Casa Esperanza is currently seeking a motivated and detail-oriented individual who is passionate about criminal justice reform and fully understands the importance that diversion programs play in recovery and in maintaining well-being. The Early Diversion Program Coordinator will oversee the planning, development, and implementation of Casa’s new Early Diversion Program integrated with behavioral health treatment and recovery support services. The purpose of this program is to reduce the number of arrests for Latines within Middlesex and Essex County with substance use disorders by diverting them from justice systems to community-based behavioral health treatment and recovery supports.

By increasing access to behavioral health services, the project aims to reduce symptomatology, improve health outcomes, and avoid long-term socioeconomic issues resulting from justice involvement and incarceration. The Diversion Project Coordinator will work with police departments and community partners in Middlesex County and Essex County to create a formal network that includes various diversion entry points for clients and multiple levels of outreach, support, and connections to community-based bilingual behavioral health services and other supports prior to arrest and booking.

They will be responsible for facilitating monthly network meetings and overseeing the implementation of a Sequential Intercept Mapping process and strategic plan.

The Project Coordinator will play a lead role in training law enforcement partners on SUD and providing educational resources to families and community members to address the stigma, health disparities, and barriers to culturally and linguistically appropriate treatment and support services. The Project Coordinator will oversee the implementation of all grant requirements, including oversight of the frontline workers, which include a Community Support Specialist and a Co-response Clinician.

They will also work closely with the Research & Evaluation Department to ensure that benchmarks, timelines, goals, and objectives are being met and reported as required.

• Serve as a law enforcement liaison to engage police departments to refer to Casa and other community providers.
• Engage external and internal service providers to better meet clients’ needs.
• Work with law enforcement partners to develop and implement an outreach strategy for reaching Latines at risk of entering the criminal system.
• Convene a monthly Behavioral Health Partnership workgroup (BHPW) comprising law enforcement partners, community stakeholders, Casa staff, and members of the target population.
• Develop guidelines and shared protocols with law enforcement and BHPW members and coordinate diversion efforts before arrest and booking, transfers to care, and follow-up services.
• Complete the Sequential Intercept Mapping project with BHPW, community partners, consumers, and family members to develop a visual map that illustrates how the proposed population served comes in contact with and flows through the local criminal justice system and identify strategies to divert Latines with SMI or COD away from the justice system into treatment.
• Identify and develop methods for collecting additional data from underrepresented and traditionally excluded individuals and/or groups that may be hesitant or unable to participate in the SIM workshop.
• Ensure same-day brief assessments are documented and evident by the co-response clinician in a timely manner.
• Meet with internal and external multidisciplinary teams on patient referrals, established needs, and integrated treatment planning.
• Ensure supported referrals to behavioral health, primary care, peer support, medication management, and…