LAPORTE, SULLIVAN CO. (WOLF) — The Law Enforcement Treatment Initiative (LETI) is expanding in Sullivan County, giving more access to behavioral health support through a treatment-focused approach.
Attorney General David Sunday announced the expansion of the Law Enforcement Treatment Initiative’s behavioral health component in Sullivan County on Monday at the Sullivan County Courthouse.
Joined by local law enforcement, district attorneys, and community partners, Sunday highlighted the program’s continued efforts to strengthen access to services and resources throughout the county.
The Law Enforcement Treatment Initiative, or ‘LETI,’ is a program through the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General that helps connect individuals struggling with substance use and behavioral health issues to treatment instead of the criminal justice system.
LETI expanded in Sullivan County to include additional behavioral and mental health services for participants. Attorney General David Sunday said programs like this are critical to meeting the growing need for treatment and support.
“I will tell you that we absolutely have a crisis in Pennsylvania with regard to behavioral and mental health. We absolutely do not have enough treatment out there. And in accordance with that, we looked at our LETI initiative and the information is up here, which we’re very, very proud of and said, what can we do to expand it,” said Sunday.
“We did everything we could as a District Attorney’s Association, working together all throughout the entire Commonwealth to find ways to help people get treatment, that were in the throes of addiction, because everyone here knows that addiction doesn’t stop at certain counties, certain families,” said Sunday.
Participants can enter LETI through self-referral, pre-arrest diversion, or post-arrest referral, giving law enforcement and prosecutors alternatives to criminal charges when appropriate.
Sunday and Director of Pennsylvania LETI, Lauren Diller, said the program helps connect people with mental health challenges to treatment, reducing involvement in the criminal justice system.
“It’s also for people like, let’s say they’ve recently committed a crime. These are lower-level crimes, that they get the treatment they need so that they don’t come back to prison so that they can have a healthy, safe, happy life. Because if we don’t get treatment to the people that have severe mental health issues, then they’re going to keep committing crimes. And that’s the last thing that any of us would want to see,” said Sunday.
“It recognizes that early intervention saves lives. And it affirms something many of us in this room have known all along. That public safety and public health are not opposing forces. They are partners. I think about the people whose lives can change because someone took the time to answer the phone, make a referral, offer support, or simply say, we’re not giving up on you. And that’s what makes today so extraordinary,” said Diller.
Sunday said Sullivan County is the ninth county in Pennsylvania to expand LETI by incorporating behavioral and mental health services into the program.