Strategy-Specific Messages

Diversion From Courts to Community-Based Responses

Messages

Value

• Young people have the potential to change.
• Rehabilitation and an opportunity to get back on track are the goals of a youth justice system that treats all young people fairly.

Opportunity

• Young people can get stuck in the justice system, which creates greater problems for them rather than helping them get their lives back on track. This especially applies to young people of color.
• Pushing young people who are facing challenges into the court system deprives them of normal adolescent experiences, positive relationships and opportunities for education and growth.
• The legal system adds unnecessary barriers to getting young people on a path toward accountability and healing.
• The current system treats young people of color more harshly than their white peers, leading them further into rather than out of court involvement.

Solution

• We know that when young people are connected to things like sports, work, school and community, they are less likely to get in trouble with the law, but some young people may need more support in making those positive connections, especially in communities without adequate resources.
• Diversion from courts to community-based responses should be the automatic response to first-time and lower-level offenses.
• Diversion from courts to community-based responses provides a much faster, more tailored response to a young person’s actions than the court system can.
• When applied effectively and equitably, diversion from courts to community-based responses can significantly reduce ineffective punishment and deeper system involvement, which are proven to hurt rather than help young people.

Action

• We must support what works best to get youth back on track, including approaches that keep young people out of the juvenile justice system.
• We urge police, judges, social workers and other professionals to consider diversion from courts to community-based responses.
• Investment in community-based resources helps ensure equitable access to effective diversion responses.

Brief Narrative

Young people have the potential to change. When young people get into trouble with law, they need meaningful opportunities for accountability.

Young people can get stuck in the justice system, which creates greater problems for them rather than helping them get their lives back on track. This especially applies to young people of color.

Most young people who break the law can be held accountable by their families, schools and communities and be connected to appropriate community resources, such as counselors, mentors and athletic coaches who support them in learning from their mistakes. We know that when young people are connected to things like sports, work, school and community, they are less likely to get in trouble with the law, but some young people may need more support in making those positive connections, especially in communities without adequate resources.

Diversion from courts to community-based responses provides a much faster, more tailored response to a young person’s actions than the court system can. When applied effectively and equitably, diversion from courts to community-based responses can significantly reduce ineffective punishment and deeper system involvement, neither of which lead to safer communities.

We must support what works best to get youth back on track, including approaches that keep young people out of the juvenile justice system. We urge police, judges, social workers and other professionals to consider diversion from courts to community-based responses.

Restorative Justice

Messages

Value

• When young people get into trouble with the law, they should make amends with the people they have harmed and have the opportunity to learn from their mistakes.
• When incidents happen, better solutions for healing and rehabilitation are achieved when those who were involved can fix it together.
• Young people are, by definition, in a period of rapid growth and change, and they can turn their lives around when given the chance.

Opportunity

• Many young people — especially youth of color — aren’t given the opportunity to learn from their mistakes through a restorative justice approach.
• Traditionally, the juvenile justice system does not provide ways for young people and those most affected by their actions to be part of finding a solution.
• Too many young people who cause harm are not given a meaningful opportunity to learn from their mistakes, make amends and bring healing to themselves, those they harmed and their communities.

Solution

• Restorative justice is an evidence-based approach that demonstrates that youth and their communities benefit most when youth take responsibility for their actions, show empathy and make amends to the people and communities they have harmed.
• Restorative justice provides an effective way for young people and everyone who is affected by their actions to create solutions together that meet everyone’s needs, address the causes of what happened, promote healing and set the young person on a positive path.
• Restorative justice reduces the chance that youth will get into trouble again because they take responsibility for their actions and gain empathy for people they have harmed.
• Using a restorative justice approach instead of court involvement reduces the number of youth who enter the juvenile justice system and provides families and communities with proven ways to help young people learn and grow from their mistakes.

Action

• Let’s offer people affected by young people’s actions — especially people of color — the option of engaging in effective restorative justice processes that will help them heal and build community safety.
• Learning how to apply restorative justice practices will enable public officials, judges and youth justice professionals to create better outcomes for young people, families and communities.
• Let’s make sure all young people have ways to take responsibility for their actions, make amends and get back on track. Restorative justice practices should be equitable and more accessible to youth of color.

Brief Narrative

When young people get into trouble with the law, they should make amends with the people they have harmed and have the opportunity to learn from their mistakes.

But traditionally the juvenile justice system does not provide ways for young people and those most affected by their actions to be part of finding a solution.

Restorative justice is an evidence-based approach that provides an effective way for young people and everyone who is affected by their actions to create solutions together. Restorative justice is better suited than court involvement or confinement to satisfy the person who was harmed and meet the need for healing, address the causes of what happened and set the young person on a positive path.

However, many young people — especially youth of color — don’t get the opportunity to learn from their mistakes in this way. When offered and applied equitably, restorative justice works. And importantly, it reduces the chance that youth will get into trouble again because they take responsibility for their actions and gain empathy for the people they’ve harmed.

Shouldn’t we do more of what works and less of what doesn’t? Communities are made stronger and safer through restorative justice practices. We need elected officials, judges, social workers and other professionals to support restorative justice practices and make sure they are widely and equitably available.

Youth Probation

Messages

Value

• Youth need support, not surveillance.
• When young people have positive opportunities and guidance to make better choices, they can learn from their mistakes and reach their potential.

Opportunity

• The current youth probation system demands rigid compliance that does not set young people up to succeed.
• Youth probation is set up so that even small infractions — such as missing curfews or court appointments — can lead to further punishment or even confinement.
• For most young people who get into trouble with the law, probation hurts more than it helps.
• Most probation cases could be safely diverted before arrest or prosecution.
• Probation fails most young people, especially youth of color.
• For too many youth, probation is a trap that drives them further into the justice system.

Solution

• If there is no danger to themselves or to their communities, young people should be diverted from probation to community-based alternatives that provide guidance, education and support.
• Probation officers should be spending their time with youth who have serious or repeat arrest histories, and community partners should be building strong relationships with young people and offering motivational guidance that supports their personal growth, behavior change and long-term success.
• The court system should set realistic guidelines, in collaboration with families and other caring adults, that young people can meet. Probation should be time-limited and use positive opportunities to motivate youth to meet goals.

Action

• Probation — with an emphasis on mentoring relationships — can be an effective intervention for young people who pose significant risks to reoffending.
• Judges and court personnel should reserve probation for the youth who need it.
• For many youth, finding constructive engagement in the community and the guidance of caring mentors is most effective in helping them get to a positive place.
• Policymakers must make it easier for young people who are on probation to pursue normal opportunities that help them grow without intervention from the court and without being held to rigid restrictions and unrealistic expectations.
• Judges, social workers and other professionals should:
  • consider how to make alternatives to probation more accessible to all young people, regardless of their race or ethnicity; and
  • address discriminatory policies and practices, income inequality and other factors that may make it harder for young people under probation to meet the requirements.

Brief Narrative

Young people are, by definition, in a period of rapid growth and change. This means that if they have positive opportunities and guidance to make better choices, they can learn from their mistakes and reach their potential.

However, for most young people who get into trouble with the law, probation hurts more than it helps.

Certainly, home- and community-settings are better than confinement, but probation fails most young people, especially youth of color. They face extreme surveillance and are required to meet unrealistic expectations that set them up to fail. Even small infractions such as missing curfews or court appointments can lead to confinement.

Youth need support, not surveillance.

If there is no danger to themselves or to their communities, young people should be diverted from probation to community-based alternatives that provide guidance, education and support.

Probation officers should be spending their time with youth who have serious or repeat arrest histories. They and community partners should be building strong relationships with young people and offering motivational guidance that supports their personal growth, behavior change and long-term success. Young people should be able to meet the guidelines laid out by the court without getting drawn deeper into the system.

Probation — with an emphasis on mentoring relationships — can be an effective intervention for young people who pose significant risks of reoffending. Judges and court personnel should reserve and modify probation for these youth.