Issue Brief #1 - Protect and Redirect: How to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Juvenile Diversion

Issue Brief #1 Protect and Redirect: How to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Juvenile Diversion The early stages of the youth justice process – arrest and cases legislators can take to address disparities in diver- the decision whether to formally process in court rather sion, including many examples where these suggested than divert delinquency cases – are plagued by large and reforms are. [...] in a weeklong training in 2021 to review data and assess their diversion policies and practices,10 as part of a Policy Pennsylvania Equity Academy funded by the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the Annie E. [...] Ca- In Pennsylvania, six of seven counties participating in sey Foundation.11 The academy required each county to the Georgetown University Center for Juvenile Justice identify and develop plans to address three priority chal- Reform’s Advancing Racial Justice and Equity in Youth lenges related to racial and ethnic equity in diversion. [...] personal history in the justice system or other lived ex- Both Philadelphia and Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) periences in common with many youth – to enhance the focused on adapting pre-arrest diversion programs al- effectiveness of their diversion programs.12 In Onondaga ready offered to youth in their public schools to also County (Syracuse), for instance, the local team devised 2 plans to redu. [...] to participation and success.43 Research finds that fines and fees harm youth of color disproportionately and in- • Reduce the share of diverted youth returned to crease re-offending.44 In April 2023, the U.