State juvenile diversion report outlines definitions, data plan and paths to expand programs
Dr. Lindsey Beech presented the Washington State Center for Court Research's landscape report on juvenile diversion, describing definitions, data sources, jurisdictional variation and proposed steps—funding, prosecutor outreach and a statewide research database—to expand diversion opportunities.
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Dr. Lindsey Beech, senior research associate at the Washington State Center for Court Research, presented the commission with the center’s landscape report on juvenile diversion, based on visits to all 33 juvenile courts and 181 interviews with court administrators, prosecutors and community partners. "Diversion is any response that navigates youth away from formal prosecution and arrest," Beech said, and she outlined a narrower legal definition focused on prosecutor referral, voluntary youth participation and avoidance of traditional prosecution.
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