In September 2005, the Bureau of Justice Assistance of the U.S. Department of Justice funded ten demonstration projects under its new Community-Based Problem-Solving Criminal Justice Initiative. The following edited excerpt was taken from Pima County’s winning proposal.
The Pima County Juvenile Court Center proposes to address the problem of juvenile domestic violence under its community-based problem-solving criminal justice grant, seeking to develop a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary prevention, response, and rehabilitation plan to divert domestic violence cases from the system when possible, and to more effectively process domestic violence referrals, including post-dispositional supervision of offenders.
For the diversion track, Pima County plans to use three major strategies aimed at providing and ensuring participation in appropriate services while avoiding unnecessary arrests and detentions: 1) development of a comprehensive pre-arrest response plan, 2) revision of law enforcement standing orders and creation of alternatives to arrest of juvenile in domestic violence incidents, and 3) ensuring that referred juveniles successfully complete domestic violence diversion programs.
Pima County Juvenile Court Center will hire a domestic violence coordinator to work with behavioral health service providers, child protective services, law enforcement, and other stakeholders to develop alternative strategies for dealing with domestic violence prior to adjudication. These would include:
- safety plans for families already engaged in behavioral health system that direct families to crisis counselors and emergency response teams as a first resort in times of crisis, rather than law enforcement;
- mobile diversion units that may be called upon by law enforcement to respond to families to provide crisis intervention services in lieu of arrest; and
- neighborhood placements—including additional crisis shelter beds, neighborhood foster homes, and relative placements—in lieu of detention.
For juveniles who are referred to the juvenile court on a charge of domestic violence, the domestic violence coordinator will work with the county attorney and public defender to develop criteria for participation in a voluntary domestic violence diversion program. The domestic violence coordinator, juvenile probation and Community Partnership of Southern Arizona will develop a procedure for the expedited creation of child and family teams for referred juveniles, to ensure early, comprehensive assessment and the development and implementation of appropriate services for the juvenile and the family. Working with probation, the domestic violence coordinator will develop strategies to encourage juveniles and families to participate in diversion and to identify and overcome obstacles to successful completion of the program so that juveniles may have the charge dismissed.
For cases where diversion from the court system is not appropriate, Pima County will seek to promote:
- A multi-disciplinary approach to assessment and case planning based on a child and family team approach that includes the family in the process and addresses the service needs of all family members. Participation in child and family teams will be voluntary, but will be strongly encouraged;
- Front-loading of services to “jumpstart” the rehabilitation process;
- Frequent contacts with the child and family, not only by the probation officer but also by other team members; and
- Regular judicial review to ensure that plan goals are accomplished, that immediate consequences are imposed for noncompliance, and that progress is acknowledged and rewarded.