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Boys and Girls Club seeks DOC grant as Codington County hears JDAI youth-diversion update
Summary
Lewis Canfield told commissioners the Juvenile Diversion Alternatives Initiative has an 87% reported completion rate this fiscal year (266 of 386 referrals) and recommended continuing state-funded racial/ethnic-disparities programming; commissioners authorized the Boys and Girls Club to apply for about $19,000 in DOC grant funding to support diversion services.
The Codington County Commission received a fiscal-year update June 9 from Lewis Canfield, director of youth diversion at the Boys and Girls Club in Watertown, who said the county's Juvenile Diversion Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) continued to reduce juvenile detention exposure for most participants while 2025 showed a small increase in average daily population caused by a few high-level felony cases.
Canfield told the board the program handles short diversion plans (typically 90–120 days) and reported 386 youth referred this fiscal year: 266 successful completions, 39 unsuccessful and 81 still in progress — a completion rate Canfield described as 87%.
"Eighty-seven percent of the time the kids complete their program successfully," Canfield said, noting the program uses screening, education, community-service tiers and connections to Project Success at HSA to address tobacco, substance and other offenses.
Canfield described how the program has reduced average daily juvenile jail population historically — from an earlier average in the high single digits for length of stay to the 'threes and fours' — while acknowledging 2025 included a small number of youths with aggravated charges who required longer detention.
Commissioners asked for clarification about the state's definition of a successful completion; Canfield explained completion determinations are made by the county court-approved program and are reported annually by the state's attorney's office.
The board then considered and approved a motion to authorize the Boys and Girls Club to apply for a Department of Corrections racial and ethnic disparities grant — roughly $19,000 — to continue culturally specific programming and to help fund diversion staff. Canfield said the grant funds have in the past been paid to the Boys and Girls Club on request and helped support direct staffing and programming, including Native American cultural activities and talking circles during the summer.
County staff and commissioners noted the state pays $750 per successful completion under the JDAI incentive arrangement; Canfield said those incentive dollars have supported staffing expansions for the diversion program.
Next steps: the grant application may extend program funding for up to three years; county staff and Boys and Girls Club will proceed with the authorization to apply and return with any substantive changes to program funding or staffing.
