Background & Approach
With over 3 million people and 34 cities, Orange County California is the sixth most-populated county in the United States and is more populous than 21 U.S. states. Our jurisdiction’s interagency planning group, the Orange County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (OCCJCC), has focused much of its work to date at Intercepts 3-5, including enhanced in-custody mental health and substance use treatment services, a coordinated reentry process, and a screening and referral system to connect probationers to the newly opened (March 2021) Behavioral Health Services Campus, BeWell OC.
We are hoping to initiate further reform at Intercepts 1-2 through a joint effort led by the District Attorney’s Office as the connection point to each of Orange County’s police departments. Our plan is to start a pilot program with the selected jurisdictions and police departments, building outcome and evaluation data that then can be used as justification to request further resources for countywide expansion.