Diversion
Formerly known as the Prevention Services Unit, the unit is designed to provide a cost effective system to handle at-risk and pre-delinquent juveniles. The goal is to curtail entry into the Juvenile Justice System, enabling the Juvenile Courts to focus on the more serious delinquent offender, while still providing consequences for the minors that hold them accountable for their behavior. Programs within the unit include:
- Monitored Diversion Caseload: a specialized caseload which provides families with immediate support and direction to appropriate community resources.
- Truancy Court: A contracted program funded through the Kern County Superintendent of Schools that focuses on improving the attendance of those students referred to the program.
- Juvenile Informal Court: Designed as an alternative means to handle misdemeanor traffic offenses and/or misdemeanor offenses for which a Wardship Petition was not deemed necessary.
- Teen Court: An alternative to formal Court proceedings for first time misdemeanor offenders between the ages of 10 and 17.
- Victims Offenders Reconciliation Program (VORP): This is a program that uses mediation to help make victims whole, while involving juvenile offenders in contributing to the solution and taking responsibility for their prior actions.
