Liaison and Diversion in court settings

Liaison and diversion services are designed to improve the health and justice outcomes for adults and children who come into contact with the youth and criminal justice systems where a range of complex needs are identified as factors in their offending behaviour.

Liaison and Diversion in court settings

Delivering against NHS England’s National Liaison and Diversion Operating Model, our liaison and diversion practitioners assess the needs of vulnerable individuals in magistrates’ courts across London, working closely with a wide range of partners to ensure that these individuals have access to the right health and social care services.

Community Link Workers

Our Criminal Justice Community team consists of Community Link Workers (CLWSs) and Peer Supporters. Our CLWs work alongside individuals throughout the criminal justice pathway to help them engage or re-engage with relevant services to tackle things like housing, addictions or debt, as well as their mental wellbeing.

Peer Support

Our Peer Supporters draw on their own experiences of mental distress and the criminal justice system, to support others overcome similar challenges.

Read more about peer support at Together.

Reports and training

A main function of our court work is the preparation of reports to provide the judiciary vital information to help with decisions about bail and remand. This helps to avoid unnecessary prison disposals where bail decisions or a community sentence would be more appropriate, again giving individuals the best chance of breaking the cycle of offending. We also provide mental health awareness training to court colleagues, probation and other frontline criminal justice staff.

“We see many individuals with mental health needs, and the fact that specialists are able to help at court, and having all the information available including Together’s reports, means the court is able to sentence effectively. No one in the courts wants to punish ineffectively, so it is vital that people with mental health issues are given the help and support they need.”

Magistrate

Working with women

In two specific locations, we have dedicated provision for women to ensure that we identify vulnerable women as early as possible. This means we can provide courts with information about their health and social care needs, and refer them to services in the community, including to specialist support. We work closely with local women’s centres and other agencies, including those working with victims of domestic violence and abuse. You can see quotes below from some people who used the service:

“When I came to court, I was at my lowest ebb and had suicidal thoughts. The women’s practitioner changed everything, she made me feel comfortable and safe, I could open up to her. She turned everything around for me, got me help and support. She changed my life.”

“I am still struggling with everything that has happened, but I have so many people helping me now. I have a long way to go but I don’t feel alone any more. I’m so grateful.”

Commissioned by NHS England

Together currently delivers liaison and diversion services across London. In April 2014 and April 2015 respectively, Together was chosen by NHS England as one of the lead delivery partners for phases one and two of the London trial site for Liaison and Diversion (two of 20 trial sites in the initiative led by NHS England to roll out Liaison and Diversion services nationally).

Our partners

To deliver the services, we partnered with Barnet, Enfield & Haringey Mental Health Trust, East London NHS Foundation Trust and North East London NHS Foundation Trust for phase 1. For phase 2, we partnered with West London Mental Health NHS Trust, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust and Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust.

Currently, we are working in partnership with all London NHS Trusts to deliver the London L&D service. The service sees vulnerable people at time of arrest at court settings and follows them through their journey to the courts, if relevant.

Enquiries

For more information about our liaison and diversion provision in London, please contact Rachel Atterbury, our Operational Lead.

Together Community Liaison & Diversion Service Referral form

Referrals to Together’s Community Liaison and Diversion Team can be made by professionals on behalf of an individual or by people referring themselves. Please fill out the form below and the team will be in touch. If you have any issues with the form please contact comms-admin@together-uk.org.

Community Liaison & Diversion Team Referral Form

Who is making the referral to Together's Community Liaison and Diversion Service?

Who is making the referral to Together's
Do you live in London?

Please note: The Community Liaison and Diversion service is only available to people who live in London. If the answer to the question above is no, please don't complete the rest of the form as the team won't be able to support you.

Self-referral

What part of the service would you like to access? (Tick one)
Please use date format DD/MM/YYYY
Which of the following best matches the way you describe your ethnicity?
Methods you do not want us to contact you on: Please Tick:
Have you been in contact with a court of police station in the last 3 months?
Do you consent for us to contact them for more information:

Self-referral links with external services (Contact Details)

Do you have existing links with a GP?
Do you have existing links with probation?
Do you have existing links with Multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA)?
Do you have existing links with Drug & Alcohol Workers?
Do you have existing links with community mental health teams?
Do you have existing links with keyworkers?
Do you have existing links with safeguarding teams?
Do you have existing links with any additional services?
Do you have issues with a drug or alcohol dependency?

Professional referring a person

What part of the service would the person like to access?
Please use date format DD/MM/YYYY
Which of the following best matches the way the person you're referring describes their ethnicity?
Please mark any methods of contact which are not suitable for correspondence with the person being referred:
(Include outcome if known)
(If applicable)
Do you have details of the referee's offending history?
(if applicable)

Priority reason(s) for referral and additional information:

Does the person you're referring have links with external services?
Do you have existing links with a GP?
Do you have existing links with probation?
Do you have existing links with Multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA)?
Do you have existing links with Drug & Alcohol Workers?
Do you have existing links with community mental health teams?
Do you have existing links with keyworkers?
Do you have existing links with safeguarding teams?
Do you have existing links with any additional services?

Risk and Need Information

Do you have a risk assessment or any other documentation relating to the person you are referring and their lived experience?
If you don't have any documentation related to risk and the person's lived experience it may be better for the person to do a self-referral with support from you. If however, that would mean a significant delay in the referral please do just carry on and complete the form as a professional.

Maximum file size: 52.43MB

If you have any issues uploading documents please email those to community.liaisonanddiversion@nhs.net directly. If there are specific issues with the form here you can let us know at comms-admin@together-uk.org and we'll look to fix those.
Does the person pose a risk to themselves (e.g. self-harm, current or recent suicidal ideation):
Does the person pose a risk to others (e.g. family, friends, strangers, police officers, females):
Is the person posed a risk by others (e.g. gang affiliation, exploitation, human trafficking):
Are there any further risks posed to the person? (physical health, risk to staff, sexual offences, stalking offences, terrorism):
Has there been a safeguarding referral made for the person?
Does the person have issues with a drug or alcohol dependency? (e.g. current or previous misuse, what type of drug, amount and frequency, previous IV use, BBV, dependency or binge drinking etc.)

Maximum file size: 52.43MB

Please tick the box below to show that you or the person you’re referring agree to provide consent to share this information with Together’s Community Liaison and Diversion Team and to be contacted by us. Together will only use this information to look to provide mental health support through the service and that can include sharing this with other agencies related to your query like health or social care services to coordinate that response. Information will not be shared with any other third parties. Together's privacy policy is at https://www.together-uk.org/privacy-notice/