Diversion: The Next Frontier in Reforming Youth Justice
Get the facts on the benefits of diverting youth from the juvenile justice system and tools to implement diversion programs in your state.
After decades of neglect, the youth justice field is awakening to the importance of diversion in lieu of arrest and formal court processing for most youth accused of delinquent behavior.
All over the country, jurisdictions are taking concerted action to address more cases of alleged lawbreaking behavior outside the formal justice system. This momentum to make diversion a centerpiece of juvenile justice reform is encouraging given powerful research showing that youth who are diverted from the justice system are far less likely to be arrested for subsequent offenses and far more likely to succeed in education and employment than comparable youth who are arrested and prosecuted in juvenile court. Greater use of diversion is also essential to reduce the persistent racial and ethnic disparities that pervade youth justice systems.
Below you will find resources documenting the many benefits of diverting young people away from the justice system, along with policy briefs that provide practical tools for criminal legal practitioners, youth justice lawmakers, and advocates to implement successful diversion programs.
A Hidden Key to Combating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Juvenile Justice
This report documents the now-overwhelming evidence showing that formal involvement in the justice system undermines rather than enhances public safety.
America’s Growing Movement to Divert Youth Out of the Justice System
This report documents noteworthy progress across the country to expand and improve the use of diversion and address problematic practices that perpetuate racial and ethnic disparities in diversion.
Recommendations for Expanding and Improving Diversion
Protect and Redirect Issue Briefs offer deeper analysis and practical steps for advocates and system leaders on: addressing disparities in diversion; employing best practices in diversion; using data to better target and improve outcomes in diversion; and messaging effectively to promote diversion reforms.
Youth Voices
Nationwide, justice-impacted youth describe how the opportunity to participate in a diversion program had a transformative experience on their life. Read their stories.
Jay
When asked what was the most powerful part of his experience with the Healing Futures restorative justice diversion program in Philadelphia, Jay doesn’t hesitate. “Definitely it was meeting her,” he says, referring to the owner of the car he helped steal with his brother-in-law and two others in early 2023.
“It all led up to an apology,” Jay recalls. “We had to build our apology letter for her, so when she got there the last day, we got to apologize to her. We got to hug her. We ate with her. We got to know her.”
Rochelle
After being referred to diversion following an arrest for joyriding, Rochelle admits that the program “didn’t really set in [initially]. It didn’t change me,” she says. “It was more like, everybody is telling me what to do, and I don’t want to do it.”
But over time Rochelle has grown thankful for her diversion experience.
Had she not been given the opportunity to participate in diversion, “I don’t think I would have graduated high school,” she says. “And I definitely wouldn’t be thinking about college if I would have a record.”
Trevor
Before he was apprehended by the Los Angeles Police Department for a serious assault in the spring of 2023, Trevor says, “I was around the wrong people all the time, and when you’re around the wrong people you really adapt to your environment.”
After joining the diversion program, Trevor decided it was time for a change. “I was just like, ‘I’m done with this. I’m just trying to be positive,’” he says. Trevor says he woke up one day and told himself: “‘Man, I just got to get this done.’ I stopped talking to the negative people and started to focus on positive stuff.”
Amber
Amber had never been in any legal trouble before she was apprehended trying to deposit a forged check at the beginning of the 2022-23 school year.
If not for her experience at YASP, she says, “I feel like I probably would have never gone to college.” I mean, I really wanted to go, it’s a really big thing, but not having someone there to help you, who understands what’s going on, makes it very hard.” And had Amber been prosecuted in court, she says, it would have been difficult to get into college.
Youth Voices
Nationwide, justice-impacted youth describe how the opportunity to participate in a diversion program had a transformative experience on their life. Read their stories.
Rochelle
After being referred to diversion following an arrest for joyriding, Rochelle admits that the program “didn’t really set in [initially]. It didn’t change me,” she says. “It was more like, everybody is telling me what to do, and I don’t want to do it.”
But over time Rochelle has grown thankful for her diversion experience.
Had she not been given the opportunity to participate in diversion, “I don’t think I would have graduated high school,” she says. “And I definitely wouldn’t be thinking about college if I would have a record.”
Amber
Amber had never been in any legal trouble before she was apprehended trying to deposit a forged check at the beginning of the 2022-23 school year.
If not for her experience at YASP, she says, “I feel like I probably would have never gone to college.” I mean, I really wanted to go, it’s a really big thing, but not having someone there to help you, who understands what’s going on, makes it very hard.” And had Amber been prosecuted in court, she says, it would have been difficult to get into college.
Jay
When asked what was the most powerful part of his experience with the Healing Futures restorative justice diversion program in Philadelphia, Jay doesn’t hesitate. “Definitely it was meeting her,” he says, referring to the owner of the car he helped steal with his brother-in-law and two others in early 2023.
“It all led up to an apology,” Jay recalls. “We had to build our apology letter for her, so when she got there the last day, we got to apologize to her. We got to hug her. We ate with her. We got to know her.”
Trevor
Before he was apprehended by the Los Angeles Police Department for a serious assault in the spring of 2023, Trevor says, “I was around the wrong people all the time, and when you’re around the wrong people you really adapt to your environment.”
After joining the diversion program, Trevor decided it was time for a change. “I was just like, ‘I’m done with this. I’m just trying to be positive,’” he says. Trevor says he woke up one day and told himself: “‘Man, I just got to get this done.’ I stopped talking to the negative people and started to focus on positive stuff.”
23 states
Nearly half the states across the country have taken noteworthy steps to expand and improve the use of diversion as an alternative to arrest or formal prosecution in juvenile court.
Read the reportResearch finds that youth diverted from the justice system have far lower likelihood for subsequent arrests, are less likely to be incarcerated, commit less violence, have higher rates of school completion and college enrollment, and earn higher incomes in adulthood.
