Juvenile Diversion Program

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Juvenile Diversion, Intervention, or Prevention Programs in Cook County, Illinois Kayla J. Decker CJA-374 Monday April 8th 2013 Amy Gordon Chicago Illinois is the birthplace of the juvenile justice system. This historical fact has been overshadowed by the increasingly high crime rate that occurs in the Windy City. How much of this crime rate is based on juveniles? According to the Chicago Police Department (2009), in the year of 2008, there were 23,018 juvenile arrests in the city of Chicago. One can ask what exactly is the city of Chicago or the state of Illinois doing to help decrease the numbers when it comes to juvenile crime. In the following paragraphs, two different programs that are active and help with keeping juveniles…show more content…
The first program is the Juvenile Justice Diversion Program (JJDP). This program is a court alternative diversion program that is in partnership with the Cook County State’s Attorney and Probation Screeners. This program allows youth’s with a chance to participate in various positive and constructive programs that integrate them into educational development, leadership development, and community service opportunities that are located in their own community. The second juvenile program that is offered is the Juvenile Justice Imitative. The Juvenile Justice Initiative does not only work and support youth’s that have been involved with the system, but also with those who are at risk of being involved with the system. This program is active in two of Chicago’s communities, South East Chicago and Englewood. This program’s goal is to address juvenile delinquency issues with assurance of an effective and appropriate response to the issue. The goal’s main purpose is to promote a positive development to youth and have some what of a “lesson learned from actions” ideal. * To develop local leadership broadly representative of the communities that is being served. * To conduct an annual community survey to assess needs and develop an action plan with a clear set of goals and objectives. * To improve the climate for the positive development of young people by achieving such improvements as increases in educational achievement levels and vocational skills. * To develop young people's leadership skills by involving them in youth-initiated community improvement activities or in cooperative projects with adults. * To set measurable goals and show progress in improving undesirable
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