These schemes – also known as mentally disordered offenders (MDO) diversion or court assessment schemes – work in a multi-disciplinary way to divert offenders with mental health problems away from the criminal justice system and into care and treatment from the health and social care sectors, where appropriate. If a prosecution is to be pursued, the schemes also seek to ensure that relevant information about an offender’s mental condition is made available to the courts.

The schemes vary considerably. Some cover a variety of criminal justice locations, including the police station, the courts and prisons, while others work in the courts only. They may be staffed by a single community psychiatric nurse or by a whole multi-disciplinary team including psychiatrists, social workers and probation staff. Their purpose is to identify offenders with mental health needs as early as possible and get them access to the services and support they need.

These schemes are often crucial to the decision-making process within the criminal justice system. Nacro produces a directory of all the liaison and diversion schemes in England and Wales.

Nacro has also produced two Good Practice Guides around liaison and diversion:
Liaison and diversion for mentally disordered offenders
Liaison and diversion for BME service users