Senate hearing: Diversion coordinators and OCA say Massachusetts Youth Diversion Program reduces reoffending but access varies by county

The Senate Committee on Juvenile and Emerging Adult Justice heard detailed testimony about the Massachusetts Youth Diversion Program and how community diversion coordinators work with young people and families to keep low‑level cases out of court.

"Diversion works," Melissa Threadgill, senior director of policy and implementation at the Office of the Child Advocate, told the committee. Threadgill said the statewide program reached an about 80 percent successful completion rate in 2024 — 258 out of 321 referred cases — and contrasted diversion outcomes with the fiscal and human costs of incarceration; she cited a statewide average cost per incarceration of $178,000.

The nut graf: witnesses and providers said diversion can provide faster connections to mental‑health care, education assistance and other supports than a court process, and that the program is run locally by community‑based providers with a diversion coordinator who designs individualized plans. Several coordinators described cases in which youth engaged education services, entered treatment, or repaired family relationships and did not reoffend.

Community providers gave concrete examples. Christie Palazzano read written testimony for Family Services of Merrimack Valley recounting a youth who completed a GED course paid for by the program and later earned a promotion at work, and another who reconnected with a parent in recovery after an assignment in the diversion program. Holly Lawrence, director of operations for NFI Massachusetts, described a case requiring a specialty therapist for problem sexualized behavior: when an initial referral failed, the diversion coordinator "relentlessly" worked through insurance, age limits and provider shortages until the youth was accepted by a trained practitioner. Shayla Del Rosa Rodriguez, a diversion coordinator at Advocates in Worcester County, described frequent check‑ins and coordinated school and family contact that led a 15‑year‑old charged with shoplifting to succeed in sports, school and at home and to avoid residential placement.

Panelists and the OCA said the program is nearly statewide (in 10 of 11 court counties), accepts referrals from police, clerk magistrates, district attorneys and judges, and typically completes cases in three to six months. Threadgill and providers emphasized that local delivery helps link youth to long‑term community services and avoid the stigma and disruptions associated with court involvement.

Committee members asked how the legislature could expand diversion. Threadgill identified funding in the budget, a bill by Senator Creem to expand judges’ authority to divert additional charges, clarification of statute to promote pre‑arrest diversion, and a national trend toward earlier diversion as options lawmakers could pursue. Witnesses urged clearer statutory language and training for law enforcement and clerk magistrates and said some counties and offices already have formal diversion policies while others do not.

The hearing closed with committee members thanking providers and the OCA and inviting continued engagement as the panel considers policy and budget options.