This document discusses ways to effectively reduce the interface time between law enforcement and youth through diversion tactics at the point of apprehension. It proposes leveraging community resources to support diversion by taking an asset-based approach that identifies community strengths. A scenario is presented where police encounter youth who could be arrested for a non-violent offense, but instead call community youth intervention specialists who take over the situation, keeping youth engaged with the community. The goal is to strengthen community ties by minimizing formal legal processing and maximizing community support for youth.

1. Increasing the Efficacy of Diversion at
the Point of Apprehension by
Leveraging Community Resources

2. There are many issues and topics to cover regarding
‘Innovation in Juvenile Justice.’
There are a combined set of issues of particular interest
because of personal and work experiences.
How to effectively reduce the overall interface time
between law enforcement and youth.

3. There are many issues and topics to cover regarding
‘Innovation in Juvenile Justice.’
There are a combined set of issues of particular interest
because of personal and work experiences.
How to effectively reduce the overall interface time
between law enforcement and youth.

4. Particularly, I am
interested in the
first Point of
Contact/Apprehe
nsion.
There are many
points of
interface in the
system:

5. As a second point, I’m interested in finding effective
ways of leveraging the resources of the youth’s
community to support and buttress the diversion tactic.
Communities are rich in assets and should be utilized
fully.

6. “In contrast, an asset-based approach to community
development is an evidence-based approach that sustains
real multi-sector partnerships by identifying and
nurturing community strengths in ways that directly
enhance violence reduction efforts. The asset-based
approach recognizes and mobilizes individual and
community talents, skills and assets; and promotes
community –driven development rather than
development driven by external agencies.”

7. The two frameworks which were instrumental in
helping me think through this are: The Urban Peace
Institute’s Comprehensive Violence Reduction Strategy
and Los Angeles’ Gang Reduction and Youth
Development.
Of those two frameworks, the particular ideas which I
drew from:

8. CVRS’s 5 basic elements:
Equitable Distribution of Resources
Primary Prevention Infrastructure
Intervention
Targeted Suppression
Reentry

9. Real-Time or near real-time crisis intervention by
Mayor’s GRYD Office Staff
Zoning of gang and criminal activity to better
allocate resources

10. Community Involvement
Chicago is not LA but there are some components
that make a lot of sense in our current city. One of
the existing frameworks that has helped me think of
this issue is the Gang Reduction and Youth
Development (GRYD) program in Los Angeles and
reading a lot of what Guillermo Cespedes has to say.

11. While there are gang and youth violence intervention
programs currently operating in Chicago, is there a
systematic and cohesive approach where the first point
of contact or service is from a community level that ‘the
system’ utilizes before any arrest/detention/temporary
detention happens?
The community needs to be the main and immediate
contact.

12. A familiar scenario:
On a Chicago corner, Police come upon a group
of 5 men. After questioning/searching, it is
determined that all of them COULD be arrested for
a non-violent offense at this point. However…
Police decide not to arrest them but feel the
situation warrants further interaction. They place a
call to that particular community’s Mobile Youth
Intervention Specialists’ who arrive on the scene and
take care of the situation from there. The Police
leave. The MYIS team then makes a decision based
on a predetermined set of criteria. Either they take
them home or to a safe place OR they take them to
a Dedicated Community Center, which has
resources in place.

13. Very little contact with Law Enforcement
No contact with formal processing/detention
Community is the main contact
Strengthen community ties by keeping youth in
community, bulk of interaction with known/active
community members, taken home (presumable in
the community) or taken to the Community center
Can leverage Chicago’s ‘City of Neighborhoods’
layout

14. What is the most
comprehensive yet
cost-effective way to
create the proper
‘zones’?

15. Kia Coleman
Director of Youth Programs,
St Sabina Employment Resource Center
773.368.2515
Prepared for Department of Family and
Support Services Interview for Manager of
Family and Support Services
July 11, 2014