Title
Youth Diversion Program Grant
Action
Action:
Accept a grant in the amount of $99,612 from the Mecklenburg County Juvenile Crime Prevention Council to fund the Youth Diversion Program.
Body
Staff Resource(s):
Kerr Putney, Police
James Wilson, Police
Cara Evans-Patterson, Police
Explanation
* Each year, Mecklenburg County's Juvenile Crime Prevention Council (JCPC) receives funding from the North Carolina Division of Juvenile Justice for programs targeting youth offenders.
* The JCPC has awarded the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) $99,612 to fund the seventh year of CMPD's Youth Diversion Program.
* The grant funding will fully fund a Diversion Specialist position and workshops for youth offenders and their parents or guardians.
* The program grant will enable school resource officers, patrol, and court counselors to refer up to 140 first-time offenders to a youth diversion program focused on building interpersonal and decision-making skills.
* In addition, parental skill training will be provided to the parents or guardians of program participants.
* Youth who have committed a first offense, such as simple assault, larceny, public disturbance, trespassing, or damage to property may be referred to the program if they meet the criteria established by CMPD and the Mecklenburg County District Attorney.
* The youth are referred to the program in lieu of being arrested for the offense they have committed.
* Pre-adjudicated youth, who are given the opportunity to attend the youth diversion program in lieu of arrest, but fail to do so, will then be subject to arrest.
* To date, 2,588 youth have successfully completed the program. Of these, 2,342 (90.4%) youth did not commit any further offenses 12 months after program completion.
* The grant requires a 30 percent in-kind match, which will be achieved using a portion of the Youth Diversion Program Manager's salary and the use of CMPD facility space as the program site location. The match requir...
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