Brown County juvenile diversion program showing success

Dec. 6—A juvenile diversion program is proving effective in Brown County, but more community connections are needed as well as alternative placement options for youth.

Brown County became an approved site for a diversion program in 2018 with a three-year grant awarded through the state. That's when Kelsi Vinger started as juvenile detention alternative initiative and diversion coordinator at the Brown County State's Attorney's Office.

Vinger provided a summary of her office's activities as part of a group discussion following an open house featuring prison art at the Aberdeen Recreation and Cultural Center Thursday evening. The art will be on display all month. The discussion was hosted by Lawrence Diggs, whose goal was to facilitate a discussion about what each person could do to enhance the diversion program.

The goal of the diversion program is to help first-time juvenile offenders and offer an alternative to juvenile court. Participants can be in the program for no more than four months. Vinger said this is for misdemeanor offenses and non-violent felonies.

Aspects of the diversion program can include community service, educational courses, counseling referrals, writing an apology letter, other writing assignments or getting youth engaged in other structural activities to occupy their free time.

Since mid-2019, Vinger said, 93% of the people who have used the program have completed the requirements and 4% have reoffended. In 2020, that was 71 successful diversions compared to 22 that were unsuccessful.

"In order to measure true recidivism, we have to look at three years out," she said.

The number of youth held in the juvenile detention center in 2019 and 2020 has held steady at 136 and 135, respectively, but both years are lower than 2017, which saw 188 detentions. Still, Vinger said, the number of detentions could be less.

When youth are initially evaluated, officials are given recommendations for alternative placement, release to family or secure detention. But, Vinger said, limited options are available for alternative housing. So, nine were placed in alternative housing of the 43 recommended. Of the 141 recommended for release, 84 were actually released with the understanding that they follow certain conditions. And, while 23 were recommended for secure detention, 111 ended up in a secure environment.

Vinger said one of the options in the works to reduce the number of youth held in a secure environment is a reception center, which would be available as a place where juveniles could go 12 to 24 hours. As an example, she said, it could offer a place for the youth to cool off after an intense argument at home. Vinger said it's for those instances where the detention center isn't the best place for them to go.

Much of Thursday's discussion focused on what the community or individuals in the community could do to help with the success of the diversion program. With that discussion came a variety of suggestions like finding community connections to help youth learn different life skills. One also mentioned the need for resources for adults to improve their parenting skills.

Another suggestion was having a shuttle system in place to help get youth from one place to another — like home, school, work and counseling appointments.

In a follow-up interview after the program, Vinger said the hope was to have that reception center up and running by Dec. 1, but officials are still working out the details of where the reception center will be.

While the salary for her position is covered for the first three years, the county does benefit in having this program available. For each person who successfully completes the program, the county receives funding back. Vinger said this year Brown County has received $13,000 for the successful diversions.

Brown County is one of 40 court-approved diversion programs in South Dakota. Those programs have logged more than 1,800 successful diversions a year in both 2020 and 2021. Not everyone completes the program, however, 289 were not successful in 2020 and 244 were unsuccessful in 2021.

To date, Vinger has been diversion coordinator for just Brown County. But, most recently she petitioned the state to handle diversions for the entire Fifth Judicial Circuit in northeastern South Dakota. In that position, Vinger said, she can help direct officials on diversion recommendations for their youth.

Vinger said the diversion program has also been made available locally to young adults or elderly adults who have a limited criminal background but suddenly find themselves in the court system.

___

(c)2021 the American News (Aberdeen, S.D.)

Visit the American News (Aberdeen, S.D.) at www.aberdeennews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.