Diversion Programs Serve a Wide Range of Opportunities for an offender Rather Than Being Sentenced to Prison.

Diversion Programs

Diversion programs serve a wide range of opportunities for an offender rather than being sentenced to prison. Diversion programs serve a purpose of avoiding a harsh punishment of incarceration and provides a large range of alternatives. Diversion programs help youthful offenders by giving them the proper treatment they need. Many youthful offenders who commit minor crimes, have some sort of mental health problems. Diversion programs drop all criminal prosecutions and leave the offender to have a clean record after completing the program properly.

Diversion programs are designed to help the youth have a different experience from being in juvenile detention center. Judges decide whether the offender will be entered in a diversion programs ("diversion Programs", n.d.). There are many types of diversion programs which include, "teen/youth courts; mental health courts; restorative justice interventions; truancy prevention/intervention programs; and mentoring programs" ("Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention", n.d.). Diversion programs vary but they all tend to have an overall goal at the end. They tend to address behavior by delinquents that is not exemptible in society, other programs can be specialized to the needs of the youth offenders such as mental health or drug/alcohol problems. Diversion programs have shown to benefit society in different ways such as, " a reduction of premature involvement in the “deep end” of the juvenile delinquency system; a reduction in out-of-home placements, especially for younger children; maintaining youth connectedness and engagement in the community by keeping the youth in his/her environment; and a reduction in cost compared to court processing and/or secure placement" ("diversion Programs", n.d.). A common goal of diversion programs, is rehabilitation. The goal of rehabilitation is putting people through therapy or programs to help them store their health.

A common diversion program is restorative justice programs. Restorative justice has practices and programs that serve purposes to the crimes the offender has committed. The goal of the restorative justice programs is repairing the harm that was caused, to decide what programs are best for the offender, and to be able to tell a transformation in the person. The restorative justice program