SBDI Expands to New Schools Across the State

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Effort to Reduce School-Based Arrests Benefits Nearly 15,000 Additional Students This Year in Connecticut

Connecticut School-Based Diversion Initiative (SBDI) Expands to New Schools

Farmington, CT – Eighteen Connecticut schools in six districts are participating in the Connecticut School-Based Diversion Initiative (SBDI) during the 2016-17 school year, bringing the total number of schools served by SBDI to 37. SBDI is a school level intervention designed to prevent youth from entering the juvenile justice system by connecting students to community-based mental health services as an alternative to arrest. Among schools participating since 2010, the average reduction in court referrals during their first year was 45% and increase in EMPS (Mobile Crisis Intervention Services) referrals was 94%.

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