Johnson County youth diversion program is seeing results

Over the last year, Johnson County has made advances in addressing racial injustice among youth. One of our greatest successes was from our work with the local committee and with the Johnson County Georgetown Team efforts to create pre-arrest diversion programs for youth. Diversion program criteria changed within the last year in order to reduce the number of disorderly conduct arrests from schools and the within community. From 2012 to 2014, the Iowa City Community School District saw arrests reduce 61 percent. Recently, first offense 5th degree thefts were included in the criteria for pre-charge diversion programming. The reduction of arrests in the school district was in part due to the LADDERS (Learning Alternative Daily Decisions to Ensure Reasonable Safety) Diversion Program. The goal of the program is to prevent youth from being charged with disorderly conduct. The youth complete community service projects, an impact statement letter, and a 'stop and think” sheet, a tool that allows youth to think through their emotions before being presented with a similar situation. The goal of completing the program is for youth to seek healthier ways to manage conflict in the future. The program has shown to be successful. The school district has also implemented a new discipline policy which aids in reducing the number of youth who come in contact with the juvenile justice system.

As of 2016, there were 16 referrals to LADDERS in Iowa City. All of the participants completed the program. Of the 16, 25 percent re-offended with new charges since the time of completion, but it was not the same charge. The program is continually improving. The Davenport Police Department adopted a similar model on February 1st to address disproportionality in the juvenile justice system. The diversion courses are offered three times per month and are for first-time simple misdemeanors, non-traffic juvenile offenders.

The Johnson County Disproportionate Minority Contact Committee and collaborating organizations are shedding light on the issue to the local community on April 28 in a forum titled, The Impacts of Racial Injustice on Youth. The event will be held at the Iowa City Public Library from 6-8:30 p.m. We will have a free community meal prior to the event, beginning at 5 p.m. The forum will have three breakout sessions on findings from the ICCSD Equity Research Project, Legal Information and Neighborhood Relations with Police, and a youth panel that features Iowa City school district students and alumni who have been impacted by disproportionality in schools and the community. Moving forward, the state must continue to influence policy, schools, courts, and local police to end racial injustice for our children.

The event is sponsored by the Johnson County Disproportionate Minority Contact Committee, Johnson County Attorney's office, Black Voice Project, Coalition for Racial Justice, City of Iowa City Human Rights Commission and the Johnson County Juvenile Justice Office.

' LaTasha DeLoach is Johnson County Disproportionate Minority Contact Coordinator. Comments or more information: (319) 356-6090; ldeloach@co.johnson.ia.us