Duval County Diversion System of Care

Restorative, Educational and Equitable Programs for Justice-Involved Youth

In 2017, State Attorney Melissa Nelson convened the Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee with a primary goal of reviewing research and best practices to improve the juvenile diversion programming for justice-involved youth.

The result was a recommendation to expand diversion programming, moving its delivery from the State Attorney’s Office to a community-based program managed by Kids Hope Alliance.

View the Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee Report

After awarding the implementation of the program to the Partnership for Child Health, the Duval County Diversion System of Care launched in 2021 with an initial caseload of 170 justice-involved youth.

The model utilizes best practices from the Diversion Juvenile Justice in Miami-Dade County successfully developed and deployed more than ten years ago with impressive evidence-based outcomes recorded for its youth population.

Expected Outcomes for Justice Involved Youth in Duval County

• Reduce involvement in the juvenile justice system by providing prescribed services to divert juvenile offenders and reduce recidivism;

• Incorporate accountability activities, counseling/therapeutic services, family supports, and youth development activities that strengthen protective factors and reduce risk factors that lead to delinquent and maladaptive behavior;

• Ensure greater access to diversion services county-wide so that eligible youth are served in the timeliest and most appropriate manner to reduce barriers the family may have in accessing services

• Reduce disproportionate minority representation of youth by ensuring equitable access to effective culturally competent programming.

Diversion Process

Youth who are diverted from the State Attorney’s office to the Partnership for Child Health are assigned a Diversion Case Manager. Based on evidence-based needs and assessment screening tools, the youth is placed into one of three tiers with various levels of programming, services, impacts and timelines for successful completion.

Jacksonville Systems of Care Initiative (JSOCI)

Through strong community partners sharing a common vision of improving outcomes for children, the Partnership has connected two significant systems of care to the Jacksonville community to provide resources to children and youth for mental health and several emotional problems. A $9 million grant for the Jacksonville System of Care Initiative (JSOCI) was received from the Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration in 2010 to 2016 and expanded through 2019, to transform Northeast Florida's mental health services into an integrated system of care for children, youth and families. A $1.25 million Hall-Halliburton Project for Collaborative Care Initiative endowment was awarded to sustain this initiative that will improve the delivery of mental health care and provide pediatricians with specialized training to identify early signs of depression and suicide in youth. Read more .

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