How the DA’s Office Juvenile Diversion Program works
The 21st Judicial District Attorney’s Office offers the Juvenile Diversion Program to eligible youth after a criminal case is referred to the DA’s Office by law enforcement, and Diversion is decided as a better option than the traditional court route for both the child and our community.
With discretion left to the prosecutor reviewing the case, the decision to offer Diversion is based upon many factors:
- Type and level of offense
- Prior law enforcement involvement
- Level of services needed by the youth
- Input from the victim
- Risk level to the community
- Juvenile’s willingness to be accountable for the crime
- Juvenile and family willingness to be supervised and amenability for change
- Whether the juvenile is already being supervised by another agency
- Has the juvenile previously been offered Diversion?
If offered Diversion, the juvenile and their family undergo a robust program with a Juvenile Diversion Coordinator (JDC) who reviews the case and prepares a contractual plan of services and agreements that, on the basic level, include school attendance, payment of fees, useful public service hours, restorative justice programs and other measures the JDC finds beneficial for the participant. Each plan is different depending on the risk and needs of the child.
When a youth successfully completes the terms of their contract, the case is closed and automatically expunged from the juvenile’s record, offering the child a record-free future with the necessary tools to learn from the mistake and the harm to the victim, our community, themself, and their family repaired.
