Page 9 - Florida Sentinel 4-12-19

Feature
Sheriff Announces Expansion Of Juvenile Diversion Program
Last Monday, Hillsbor- ough County Sheriff Chad Chronister, along with members of the law enforce- ment and judicial commu- nity in Hillsborough County, announced an expansion to the Juvenile Arrest Avoid- ance Program (JAAP). The JAAP is a civil citation pro- gram for first-time juvenile offenders under the age of 18.
JAAP gives law enforce- ment authorization to issue youth a civil citation in lieu of arrest for certain misde- meanor offenses. The pro- gram went into effect March 28, 2019, an addendum was added to the program leav- ing just five offenses out of more than 200 misde- meanor charges a juvenile can face in the county ineli- gible for JAAP.
The only offenses not
CHAD CHRONISTER Hillsborough County Sheriff
eligible are: battery (do- mestic violence on a partner), assault on a specified official (school employee, detention of- ficer, law enforcement officer), violation of in- junction, driving under influence and racing.
JAAP has expanded to in- cluded low-level family vio- lence offenses, including
incidents involving a sibling or a parent. Instead of time in a juvenile detention cen- ter, youth who are first-time offenders will get assessed by a case worker and receive a variety of alternative sanc- tions including counseling, drug treatment, specialized classes or community serv- ice.
The change was made possible in part by Com- missioner Sandy Mur- man, who has made bed space and counselors avail-
able at the County's group home facility in Lake Magda- lene.
"This expansion further enhances opportunities for juvenile first-time offenders in Hillsborough County to have meaningful sanctions without creating a criminal record that could destroy their future," Sheriff Chro- nister said.
"We want young people to know that even after mak- ing a poor decision, they can turn their lives around and
get back on the right track." If youth successfully complete the terms and con- ditions of their sanctions, their cases are closed with- out referral to the State At-
torney's Office.
Since JAAP was greatly
expanded for the first time in August of 2017, the number of youth receiving civil cita- tion referrals instead of get- ting a criminal record has continued to increase each year, from 664 in 2017 to 704 in 2018.
FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2019 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 9-A