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Keeping Kids Out of Jail, Challenging and Rewarding

(Gillette, Wyo.) While teen drug use is a problem, incarcerating kids has not been shown to be an effective way to deal with it. Programs such as the County Attorney’s Juvenile Diversion program exist to offer viable alternatives to jail for troubled youths.

Senior Juvenile Diversion Officer Erica Wood started working at the county attorney’s office 13 years ago with a master’s degree in social work she obtained from the University of Wyoming.

“I truly believe in the program,” Wood said, stating that the opportunities for kids to better themselves were plentiful and that she can clearly see the benefit for kids.

Wood said she truly loves her job, calling it both challenging and rewarding. She works with troubled kids in the justice system on an individual basis. She said the program allows her to work in nearly every element of social work. It gives kids opportunities to better themselves, while at the same time providing education to decease the likelihood of criminal activities.

“There’s not many jobs where you can do what you love,” she said.

The program

Beginning in 1999, the program was designed to help juveniles between the ages of 12 and 18 as an educational, restorative justice type program, Wood said. Essentially, this means turning their mistakes into educational opportunities

For the most part, it has remained the same other than some slight modifications to the corrective thinking curriculum as the need arises.

The overall goal of the program is to change the way juvenile offenders think, and subsequently lessen the possibility of them repeating the crime and appearing again in the justice system.

It was originally developed to reduce the number of juveniles in detention by offering an alternative to juveniles who have committed certain offenses, so long as they are referred to the Juvenile Diversion Program before they are convicted in a court of law. After which, the program cannot not help them.

The program does not accept juveniles who face charges for tobacco or traffic violations. Nor does the program admit juvenile offenders who commit serious infractions against the law that would warrant an adult charge.

“There are no egregious offenses,” Wood said.

Should a juvenile face adult charges, the County Attorney can request that their charges be lessened.

Under the program, juveniles would be required to complete corrective thinking coursework, which provides a different for way for them to think positively, Wood explained. Other tasks include writing an apology letter and paying restitution for crimes such as destruction of property and larceny. And there’s more.

“All juveniles in the program do community service,” Wood said, for any community entity that is nonprofit such as the Council of Community Services.

Depending on their work or school schedule, juveniles also do janitorial work or help with other community activities, Wood said.

Should a student fail the program, then their original charges are brought against them and should they commit another offense, then their cases are forwarded to the court, which decides their consequences.

Does it really work?

Keeping the program goal in mind, success for the program is determined by the number of students who recidivate, or repeat their criminal offenses and appear again in the justice system, Wood explained.

The numbers vary for how successful the program is, and Wood generally checks the numbers every 5 years. Between the years of 2009 and 2014, the program had an 84 percent success rate.

Wood said that the number of students benefiting from the program has increased in recent years and that old surveys show decreased issues in juveniles and an overall grade improvement in schools.

She further stated that even a student starts the program and fails, the chances of them returning to the justice system are significantly lower than they would be if the juvenile had not enrolled in the program.

Wood says that she truly enjoys being involved with the people and the public. She hopes to continue doing her work for quite some time.

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