Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Published March 31, 2026 4:19 P.M.

(Beaver, Pa) Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday made a stop to the Beaver Courthouse Tuesday to announce a new program for Beaver County that aims to help those with substance abuse or mental health challenges.

The LETI Program, which stands for Law Enforcement Treatment Initiative, is a program used by PA counties to avoid giving criminal charges to individuals who may simply just need help.  The program allows for the police to recommend LETI for individuals facing charges. Upon successful completion those charges are dismissed.

“The LETI program empowers law enforcement officers to be proactive in their communities by identifying those individuals who get trapped in the criminal system due to mental health and substance abuse issues,” Beaver County District Attorney Nathan Bible said. “Nobody knows and understands the members of their communities better than those who police them.”

Multiple local police Chiefs were in attendance to show support for the announcement.

Beaver County Behavioral Health Administrator Lisa McCoy stated “Beaver County Behavioral Health is dedicated to connecting community members experiencing mental health and/or substance use disorders to treatment and various support services,” By introducing a LETI program in the county, we can improve law enforcement’s ability to connect our behavioral health consumers to treatment, in addition to reducing consumer engagement with the criminal justice system.”

When the program is up and running, individuals will also be able to walk into the police station, probation office, sheriff’s department, or the local drug and alcohol authority and ask to be connected to drug and alcohol or behavioral health services.

Attorney General Sunday said “Beaver County is making an important breakthrough by launching LETI and backing it with behavioral health support from the get-go, we’ve seen what this strategy can accomplish: it supports families, breaks cycles, and increases community safety.”

The program is currently operating in numerous other counties throughout the state.