Even ‘most brazen offenders’ can gain from youth diversion programs

The article “Support strong for youth diversion programs” (Page A1, Sept. 2) reported that “skeptics wonder whether diversion provides enough accountability for the most brazen offenders” among young people who have been arrested. As many parents can attest, adolescent “attitude” can certainly provoke a punitive response from adults. However, how “brazen” a child or young adult may be at the time of their misconduct is not a reliable predictor of their actual risk of reoffending. Moreover, diversion programs are not intended for young people who pose a significant risk of reoffending, whether or not they are “brazen.”

People interested in long-term community safety should attend more closely to actual outcomes than to adolescent attitudes. These outcomes include lower recidivism rates among diverted youth, much lower costs than facility-based custody, and supervision directly addressing the drivers of misconduct for individual young people.

We at the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior have collaborated with Suffolk District Attorney Kevin R. Hayden to bring accurate, actionable science to the design and implementation of the anticipated young adult diversion program. The district attorney is to be commended for joining prosecutors around the country whose evidence-based diversion programs are sound investments in both community safety and the well-being of young people, and we are proud to support him in his efforts.

ROBERT KINSCHERFF

Boston

The writer is executive director of the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor in the doctoral clinical psychology program at William James College. He holds a doctoral degree in clinical psychology and a degree in law.