Diversion programs although the public may perceive juvenile delinquents as chronic offenders who enter and reenter the system, statistics show that this is not the case. Many states and localities are exploring diversion programs as a way to keep youth out of the juvenile justice system. Instead, the focus shifts to the restorative and rehabilitative goals of the juvenile justice system. After defining juvenile diversion, this chapter traces the development of juvenile diversion programs, including descriptions of four early diversion programs, followed by a discussion of the effectiveness of diversion programs. Juvenile diversion programs the state attorneys office juvenile diversion programs, also known as youth offender programs, consist of both prevention and intervention strategies. Diversion programs iguide office of juvenile justice. Diversion programs for juvenile offenders are effective. New hampshire juvenile court diversion network navigation. New hampshire is home to 17 accredited juvenile court diversion programs that hold youth accountable for disruptive behavior while ensuring they benefit from education and support services to improve their behavior and not end up in juvenile court statute nh rsa169 delinquent childrenb.
Juveniles who complete diversion programs for their crimes are less likely. Preadjudication diversion is preferable because it would actually avoid criminal records through lack of formal charges, while postadjudication diversion. The texas front end diversion initiative fedi is a preadjudicatory diversion program that aims to divert youth with identified mental health needs from adjudication by pairing them with a specialized juvenile probation officer sjpo who provides intensive case management services and helps link the youth and his or her family to appropriate communitybased services. First time offenders with minor offenses and indicate certain criminal behavior risk factors may be eligible for specific diversion programs. Diversion programs are designed for those charged with drug crimes, petty larceny, and minor assault related to other nonviolent crimes. The juvenile diversion services fund provides funding for programs to assist juveniles on diversion to meet the terms of their diversion agreement, enhance accountability, provide community safety, enhance skill. Sponsored by the office of juvenile justice and delinquency prevention, u. Consequently, diversion programs focused on minimal intervention are consistent with the idea that the juvenile justice system can facilitate a successful. Programs virginia department of criminal justice services. During the hearing, a hearing officer, the juvenile, and the parentsguardians discuss the situation. Diversion programs office of the state attorney, 17th.
Department of justice, office of justice programs, provides national leadership, coordination, and resources to prevent and respond to juvenile delinquency and victimization. Individuals who are employed in the juvenile justice system use intervention as an important component of dispositional. Lancaster since the establishment of the countys juvenile diversion program in 2015, it has maintained a 93. Diversion programs are cheaper and more effective than. It is important to understand the juvenile has the right to deny the charge and have his or her case heard formally before gwinnett county juvenile court. The program, according to fairfield county juvenile court judge terre vandervoort, is one of many established in the past few years in response to new evidence on recidivism prevention. Fairfield county juvenile court program seeing success in. Gwinnett county juvenile court youth diversion program. Initiatives from the eastern caribbean area most successful diversion programme are those which prevent youth.
Ojjdp supports the efforts of states, tribes, and communities to develop and implement effective and equitable juvenile justice systems. Diversion programs are alternatives to initial or continued formal processing of youth in the juvenile delinquency system. The denver juvenile diversion program is an alternative to the traditional court process for eligible firsttime juvenile offenders. How can we create successful juvenile diversion programs. Diversion programs and firstoffender programs nolo. New research shows juvenile diversion programs work, also curb. The effect of youth diversion programs on recidivism. Diversion juvenile and domestic relations district court.
However, not all formal diversion programs involve interventions and may simply be based on some sort of surveillance. These programs emphasize counseling, treatment, and behavior modification over punitive measures. Prosecutorled diversion efforts, such as the juvenile alternative resolution program jar, can fill this gap meaningfully and effectively. The primary goal is to prevent further contact with the police and criminal justice system by providing a variety of services to meet individual, family and community needs. Juvenile diversion strategies and models juvenile justice. Registries of effective programs adolescent and school. Completion of the program will not eliminate existing criminal records created from previous convictions. It includes information on justicerelated programs and assigns evidence ratingseffective, promising, and no effectsto indicate whether there is evidence from research that a program achieves its goals. Diversion programs are typically designed to provide youth with experiences that are different from traditional juvenile justice experiences. Successful completion of a diversion program allows the youth to avoid further prosecution and entry into the juvenile justice system. If you get a drug addict clean and into a position where he can take care of himself, you take away 99.
Coreys youthful offender program is intentionally tough, sometimes using tactics that fly in the face of modern approaches to effective juvenile justice. Diversion programs for juvenile offenders are effective but underused. The goal of the diversion program is to identify any underlying issues that may serve as barriers for youth being productive and successful members of the community. Prearrest diversion programs effectively put theories developed by research into practice. Effective intervention for serious juvenile offenders mark w. The program, according to fairfield county juvenile court.
Successful diversion programs in wyoming would mean fewer juveniles formally prosecuted and sentenced and fewer youthful offenders burdened with criminal records before achieving adulthood. By involving these juvenile offenders with the understanding and. This study found that diversion programs for youth are significantly more successful than traditional juvenile justice systems in reducing recidivism, with programs focusing on medium to highrisk youth being more effective than those targeting lowrisk offenders. Additional funding was provided by the centers for disease control and prevention, u. Juvenile diversion programs, as described previously, are designed to reduce delinquency, increase the efficiency of the justice system, reduce costs to taxpayers, and reduce juveniles levels of involvement in the justice system cocozza et al.
Diversion decisions and activities usually occur at the earliest stages of involvement in the juvenile justice system. Diversion programs iguide office of juvenile justice and. Diversion programs can help keep youth out of the system by preventing arrests emily haneycaron, jdphd candidate, juvenile law center legal intern, april 15, 2016 each year, over 1 million youth are arrested across the country, and 95% of those arrests are for nonviolent offenses. Best practices in youth diversion institute for innovation. Department of health and human services, the metropolitan life foundation, the colorado division of criminal justice, the pennsylvania commission on crime and. Publications national criminal justice reference service. Juvenile diversion is defined as any process that is used by components of the criminal justice system. The northern star juvenile diversion program is a pretrial program for minors, conducted through the efforts of the boy scouts. Youth substance abuse safety program ysasp the focus of ysasp is to help young people age 16 20 who have been civilly cited for underage drinking or possession of marijuana get proper. Statewide evaluation of juvenile diversion programming.
Juvenile diversion summary few programs dealing with juvenile antisocial or delinquent behavior have met with anything greater than marginal success. These programs are intended to give youth and families every resource available to assist them in becoming a. Court diversion is a confidential and voluntary program that results in the offenders record being sealed upon successful completion of the program. Today, diversion programs are often still considered experimental, and this study will show that they vary widely across the united states and in foreign countries. Foundation to conduct an intensive program on juvenile diversion practices and programming. However, some diversion programs may target highrisk juvenile offenders. Shortstop is a unique juvenile crime diversion program that has served juvenile offenders and their families since 1980. This study found that diversion programs for youth are significantly more successful than traditional juvenile justice systems in reducing recidivism, with. Successful completion of diversion programming will generally result in no further. Diversion office of juvenile justice and delinquency prevention. Juvenile diversion and restorative justice in suffolk county posted.
If the juvenile chooses not to participate in the program, the case will go forward through the court system. Four of the major benefits of successful diversion programs are. This is confirmed by the fact that among juvenile justice. Juvenile diversion funds are issued by the state of colorado, department of public safety, division of criminal justice dcj, in conjunction with the juvenile justice and. The effect of youth diversion programs on antonio casella. The office of juvenile justice and delinquency prevention ojjdp, part of the u. Gary ivory is the southwest president of youth advocate programs, an organization that works in juvenile justice across multiple states and provides diversion services for some of. List and discuss several specific prevention and diversion programs discuss the concept of restorative justice describe some specialty or therapeutic courts and their role in the prevention of juvenile crime critique prevention and diversion programs you are the oncall officer at the juvenile probation office this week.
When those requirements are completed successful the action is never taken into. The benefits of diversion programs have been well documented. Diversion programs may vary from lowintensity warnandrelease programs to moreintensive treatment or therapeutic programming, all in lieu of formal court. After successful completion of a diversion program, the child will not have a criminal court conviction. These results continue to underscore project youths positive outcomes with the atrisk youth who successfully complete project youths early intervention programs. How effective are virginias juvenile diversion programs. The results indicated that diversion is more effective in reducing recidivism than conventional judicial interventions. Wilson, and lynn cothern effective intervention plays an essential role in any strategy designed to diminish the rates of juvenile delinquency. Prearrest diversion programs, like civil citations, help avoid the labeling an arrest brings. Since the establishment of the countys juvenile diversion program in 2015, it has maintained a 93. Juvenile diversion, however, has proven to be very successful. Diversion programs in americas center for prison reform.
There are a wide variety of diversion program types, including. The purpose of the youth diversion program is to deter youth from the criminal justice system. This framework is a webbased adaptation of the juvenile diversion guidebook. The youth is required to admit to the offense, to participate in programs similar to and with services provided by the same agencies as diversion programs. The youthteen court diversion programs provides access to federal and federallyfunded publications and online resources related to youth court diversion. Diversion, positive youth development, restorative. Successful completion of the agreed conditions allows these youth to avoid appearing in court, and prevent them from permeating into the juvenile system. Juvenile court program seeing success in diversion. The municipal juvenile diversion program targets youth in violation of city laws such as trespassing, curfew violations, and shoplifting. Juvenile diversion is an intervention strategy that redirects youths away from formal processing in the juvenile justice system, while still holding them accountable for their actions. Successful completion of diversion programming will generally result in no further judicial processing wilson and hoge 2012. Diversion programs can last from six months to a year or more. Often, participants must agree to attend classes and vocational training, participate in individual or group therapy or counseling, perform community service work, make restitution to.
A 1988 study of the court careers of juvenile offenders in arizona and utah found that 71 percent of females and 54 percent of males who had contact with the juvenile court. A juveniles participation in the youth diversion program is voluntary. These youth may be eligible for an alternative to formal court processing known as diversion. The northern star juvenile diversion program was established in 1996 to encourage and guide these young people to become aware of the future and develop the necessary skills needed to succeed. Effective intervention for serious juvenile offenders. Diversion is a term used to describe intervention approaches that redirect youths away from formal processing in the juvenile justice system, while still holding. Successful completion of the conditions of the formal diversion. Juvenile diversion many juveniles referred to juvenile court are first or second time offenders who commit offenses such as shoplifting, malicious mischief, or possession of alcohol. Childrens justice act cja the childrens justice act cja as set out in section 107 of the child abuse prevention and treatment act capta is a federal grant for states to develop, establish, and operate programs designed to improve the childprotection system.
Participants that successfully complete this program will not have their case filled with the court. The twentyquestion survey was distributed in november 2007 to 177 intake officers across the. Alternatively, formal diversion programs usually involve some conditions youths must fulfill, including an admission of guilt and an agreement to participate in a diversion intervention. The juvenile diversion certificate program, modeled after the center for juvenile justice reforms other successful certificate programs, brings together individuals and teams of law enforcement officers.
An overview of juvenile diversion is presented below, followed by 16 steps of guidance from the juvenile justice field on implementing a successful diversion program. Upon successful completion of the program, the record of the incident is destroyed thereby avoiding processing through. Juvenile diversion programs state attorney office for. Diversion has been extremely successful in other parts of the world, especially europe, britain, north america and australia. A 20 metaanalysis of 73 diversion programs, including both caution programs and intervention programs, indicated that these programs were more effective in.