The first juvenile Diversion program in this office was established over 20 years ago. Currently, there are five unique programs under juvenile Diversion. All Diversion programs are referral-based, and individuals cannot directly apply to participate. Diversion Specialists, along with Deputy District Attorneys, assess cases that are appropriate to be screened for Diversion. For all Diversion programs, the juvenile must be willing to accept responsibility for their role in the incident. The juvenile’s parent or guardian must also be supportive of their youth's participation in the program. Program requirements are determined after meeting with the juvenile and their family, completing a screening, and getting to know them and their situation better. Through partnerships with various non-profit and direct service agencies in the community, we are able to address issues such as substance use, conflict management, and lower level behavior health concerns.
Disqualifying charges for juvenile Diversion programs include:
- Class 1, 2, 3 felony charges
- Serious assaults
- Serious crimes of violence
- Serious weapons offenses
- Impaired driving offenses
- Traffic only offenses
- Serious drug distribution offenses
- Offenses involving significant restitution
General Juvenile Diversion
This program is for juveniles with minimal previous juvenile system involvement who are willing to take responsibility for the incident.
Typical Program Length: minimum of 3 months.
Juvenile Behavioral Health Diversion
This program, supported by a grant from the Larimer County Behavioral Health Services, is for juveniles with untreated or undertreated behavioral health conditions which are contributing to interaction with law enforcement.
Typical Program Length: minimum of 6 months.
Diversion for Juveniles that Sexually Offend (JSXO Diversion)
This program is for juveniles charged with a sexual offense who accept responsibility and demonstrate willingness to engage in treatment. It is not for those whose professional psychosexual evaluations identify high risk to reoffend or for juveniles requiring supervision that exceeds the bounds of Diversion.
Typical Program Length for Boundaries track: 6 months.
Typical Program Length for Offense-Specific track: 12 to 24 months.
Teen Dating Violence
This program is for juveniles whose charges carry a domestic violence enhancement.
Typical Program Length: 6 to 12 months.
Juvenile Sexting
This program is a specific educational response for juveniles with minimal prior juvenile system involvement who are willing to take responsibility for their involvement in a case involving unsafe internet use or the exchange of private images. This program accepts referrals from School Resource Officers or other community partners, with the permission of the juvenile’s family. This program offers a catered response with both youth and parent/guardian engagement to increase awareness about current laws, risks of unsafe internet and social media use, education about safe technology use and monitoring of technology/social media, and how to prevent future incidents from occurring.
Typical Program Length: up to 6 months.
