Juvenile Diversion Programs

Low self-esteem, poor decision-making and communication skills, association with a negative peer group, and a dysfunctional family unit are some characteristics of delinquent youth identified by literature. Ohio Cooperative Extension Extension Service Juvenile Diversion programs are designed to address these characteristics. The family is the primary socialization influence on an adolescent along with peers. Thus, it's imperative Extension include educational programs for families to help troubled youth overcome their problems.

The Ohio juvenile diversion programs began in 1986 in Paulding County. Extension agents developed a program to help juveniles develop positive self-esteem, personal values, interpersonal communication skills, ways to deal with stress and peer pressure, and skills in setting goals. Each juvenile enrolls in 4-H and completes a project. A club meeting accompanies each session, enabling youth to learn to conduct a business meeting and develop leadership skills. The program has been adapted and used with juveniles and their families in eight other Ohio counties.

Participants can enter an Extension Juvenile Diversion program by being dispositioned to participate by a judge, a court mandate, recommendation by a school counselor, a request from the juvenile's parents, or identification by a probation officer. Delinquent youth and their families often must make the choice between the court system and the diversion program.

Each county court system, in cooperation with Extension faculty, determines the process by which parents of juvenile offenders will participate in Extension parenting programs. Parents may be referred to the programs by Children Services, juvenile court probation officers, or sent by the juvenile court judge. Programs are provided in most counties for parents or guardians as well as youth dispositioned to the Extension Juvenile Diversion program. Parenting programs help families address issues that initiated and/or reinforced the delinquent behaviors. In a recent study, Ohio juvenile judges felt that programs for parents should develop positive family support, without which juveniles would quickly return to previous behaviors, thus gaining little by their interaction with the court system.

Programs for parents include experiences that enhance the self-esteem of the adults themselves; develop communication, negotiation, and decision-making skills; identify styles of parenting; and establish positive discipline. Hostile attitudes by parents "sent" to an educational program because of their child's behavior are soon overcome by the quality and relevance of the material to the family situations.

Funds for diversion programs are provided by grant monies or through Extension funds. Educational materials and teaching aids are often provided by Extension, while grant monies are used to provide program coordinators.

Extension Juvenile Diversion programs have reached more than 500 youth since 1986. Only three percent of the participants have been known to return to the juvenile court system compared to an average recidivism rate of 50%. Due to this decrease in recidivism, Extension programs have saved Ohio taxpayers over $500,000 in probation and detention costs.

Participants have reported increases in communication skills and self-esteem, and improvement in behavior at home and at school. Some parents have reported that after participation in the Extension program, their children had the best parent/teacher conference reports ever.

Extension can have a positive impact within the community by working with juvenile offenders and their families. Programs need to be developed in cooperation with the county court system that address needs within the specific community. Program content is limited only by the creativity of the professionals who develop it and the environment in which it's offered.