Youth Diversion Programs

Student: Vanessa J. Sanchez

Faculty Mentor: Emily Viera Asencio

Criminology & Criminal Justice Studies

College of Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Arts

The purpose of this research is to identify youth diversion programs that may have an impact on recidivism rates. Typically, youth have an 8/10 chance of reoffending within the five-year time frame of their first arrest (USAFactsTeam, 2023). This is concerning because of the developmental stages that youth undergo during their adolescence. By identifying that there seems to be a dramatic amount in the recidivism rates among youth, there then began an exploration of current or past programming or legislation that has been implemented to help address this issue. One of those areas was exploring youth diversion programs and their correlation to addressing recidivism rates. The United States has had a history of not only abusing those who end up in the criminal justice system, but particularly youth who fall into the system (Juvenile Corrections Reform in California, n.d.). This typically involved "inhumane living conditions, a culture of violence, rampant staff abuse, and painful separation from loved ones" (Juvenile Corrections Reform in California, n.d.). From 2005 to the year of 2019, we have seen a drastic decrease in the number of arrests made among juveniles, both male and female-identifying individuals (Puzzanchera, 2021). The methods used in this research project were primarily based on preexisting qualitative research. The sources referenced were primarily extracted from databases such as Google Scholar, JSTOR, general Google search, and OneSearch. This included primary and secondary sources that referenced statistics reflective of the United States or California specifically.