Snohomish County LEAD outlines diversion model to Lynnwood council, reports 601 clients served in 2025

Ashley Dawson, program director of Snohomomish County LEAD, told the Lynnwood City Council at a May 20 work session that the program redirects people whose low-level offenses are linked to behavioral health into voluntary, intensive case management instead of arrest.

Dawson told council members that LEAD began in Lynnwood and Everett as a pilot and has grown countywide. "LEAD stands for Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion," she said, adding that the program emphasizes harm reduction and that participation is voluntary. Dawson said the county program served 601 clients in 2025 and recorded "over 16,000 contacts" with clients, a tally she described as texts, visits, phone calls and care coordination that reflect the program's intensive support model.

The program, Dawson said, relies on partnerships across law enforcement, health providers, prosecutors and human services. She described two main referral pathways: an arrest-diversion route in which officers holding low-level misdemeanor charges can refer a person pre-booking and suspend filing of charges while the person engages with LEAD, and a social-contact referral for individuals encountered by law enforcement or other partners who are not being booked.

Council members asked how LEAD coordinates with local services. In response to a question about the city's community health worker and a new crisis care center, Dawson said LEAD typically complements embedded social-work teams and can provide follow-on case management after short crisis-center stays, naming prompt "discharge planning" and rapid referrals as priorities.

Dawson described operational limits and staff caseloads: LEAD uses a mix of light-touch and intensive case management with average caseloads around 20 to 25 people per staff member. She also warned of funding risk, saying the Washington Health Care Authority had announced a 14% reduction that could require future difficult choices; current main funding sources listed were the Washington Health Care Authority, North Sound BHASO, and a federal Bureau of Justice Assistance grant.

Council members praised the program's continuity of services and follow-up and said the model appears to address criticisms sometimes leveled at short-term interventions. Dawson said that information-sharing and transparent referral processes with law enforcement were key to the program's local acceptance and success.

The council did not take formal action on LEAD during the work session; staff and councilmembers said they would consider how the city's existing crisis and health-worker resources might coordinate further with the county program.