Commonwealth's Attorney Awarded $1 Million for Diversion Program
Published on October 01, 2024
ARLINGTON, VA – The U.S. Department of Justice awarded a $1,000,000 grant to the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney to grow the OAR Diversion Program. The OAR Diversion Program was created in 2022 in partnership with OAR of Arlington, Alexandria, and Falls Church (OAR) through the Vera Institute for Justice’s Motion for Justice Program (MFJ). MFJ brings together prosecutors’ offices and system-impacted communities to design and pilot diversion programs that promote community safety by centering racial equity. The Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Arlington County and the City of Falls Church was the first MFJ pilot site.
The Department of Justice issued five awards nationally under the FY24 Second Chance Act Pay for Success Program. The Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Arlington and the City of Falls Church was the only prosecutor office to receive this grant award, which is the maximum awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Second Chance Act Pay for Success Program.
The Pay for Success grant will allow OAR to grow their diversion program staff and provide services (directly or through referral) to program participants including mental health and substance use disorder treatment, procurement of vital documents, housing, job and vocational training, fitness and physical wellbeing support, and expanding participants’ pro-social support networks.
"This grant is a monumental step forward in our work to create a better, more humane, and more cost-effective model for improving public safety," stated Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti. "Our collaboration with OAR to create this diversion program is an evidence based, cost-effective approach to prosecution for people who suffer from mental illness and substance use disorder. We know that the ‘tough on crime’ model has failed to make our communities safer by changing behavior or improving outcomes for this population. Instead, this failed approach has been proven to lead to more frequent arrests and more incarceration for at-risk groups. We are working to break this cycle, increase community stability and decrease criminal behavior by connecting program participants with supportive services where they live. We have already seen success in our pilot program and this grant will sustain and expand the program over the next five years."
"We have long known that jail and prison do not address the reasons that many people find themselves caught in the criminal legal system," stated Elizabeth Jones Valderrama, Executive Director of OAR. "And yet there has been such limited funding for alternatives that address a person’s underlying needs and address personal and systemic racism, which together help make the community safer. We are thrilled that the Bureau of Justice Assistance is providing support for an innovative partnership between OAR and the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Arlington and the City of Falls Church. Together, we can work to off-ramp people from the legal system and instead be part of helping the community thrive."
The grant funds project activities from FY 2025 through FY 2030. The Director of Restorative Justice and Diversion, Grace Woodward, was instrumental in obtaining this grant and will oversee our performance under it.
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