In January, nearly four years after the idea was first conceived, the state launched its first state-run, state-funded juvenile diversion programs. The idea was to keep teenagers out of detention and avoid saddling them with a juvenile court record for minor offenses, like shoplifting or using illicit drugs.

Now, lawmakers are considering expanding the diversion program.

Both the House and Senate have put money in their fiscal 2023 budget plans to offer diversion in more locations. And on Wednesday, the Senate plans to take up a bill sponsored by Sen. Cynthia Creem, a Newton Democrat, which would let the juvenile court divert a young person out of the court system for a wider range of offenses, including some violent offenses.

The diversion process was established through the 2018 criminal justice reform law to prevent teens from having juvenile records created. According to data compiled by the Juvenile Justice Policy and Data Board, it has largely succeeded, approximately cutting in half the number of teens sent through the criminal justice system. The decline is driven in large part by fewer prosecutions for alcohol and disorderly conduct charges. Today, however, there are a very limited number of offenses for which a teenager can be sent to community supervision and services.

Creem’s bill would expand that to cover more serious offenses. These include certain motor vehicle offenses, certain instances of assault and battery on a public official, first-time assault and battery on a family or household member, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon when there is no serious injury.

The Massachusetts Coalition for Juvenile Justice Reform, a project of the advocacy group Citizens for Juvenile Justice, which supports the bill, says in a fact sheet that this would let a judge hold a hearing to better distinguish between childish behavior and serious offending, and send a child guilty of the former to a diversion program.

Sen. Jamie Eldridge, an Acton Democrat who co-chairs the Legislature’s criminal justice reform caucus, said the next step in reducing mass incarceration is looking at how the state addresses violent crimes – and that’s the path the Legislature is starting to go down. He said he urges colleagues not to consider worst-case scenarios, but to think about an example like a juvenile in difficult family circumstances who hits a family member for the first time. 

“Just putting young people into the court system automatically more often than not creates this path that’s very hard to get out of,” Eldridge said in a virtual briefing Tuesday organized by the caucus with the Office of the Child Advocate.

In its fact sheet, the Coalition for Juvenile Justice Reform gives the example of a foster child in crisis who was placed in an ambulance and spat at the driver when he taunted her for having a learning disability. She was charged with assault and battery on a public servant. If a teenager assaults someone with a cell phone, eggs, a sneaker, a backpack, or a water bottle, that is considered assault with a dangerous weapon.

Reform advocates portray this as a racial issue, since Black and Latino children are overrepresented at every stage of the juvenile justice system, as they are in the criminal justice system more broadly.

Melissa Threadgill, director of strategic innovation for the Office of the Child Advocate, said during the briefing that racial disparities start at the system’s front door. “If we increase the opportunity for diversion, it’s our hope that’s one way we can start to do a better job of tackling these disparities,” she said.

In addition to helping the children, Threadgill said there is a “strong public safety” argument to be made for diversion since research has shown recidivism is reduced when a teenager participates in a diversion program. “If you connect kids to services and keep them out of the court, they’re more likely not to come back,” she said.

The Senate also plans to take up a bill sponsored by Sen. Adam Gomez, a Springfield Democrat, that would make it easier for juveniles to post bail by making some procedural changes and waiving the $40 bail fee. Threadgill said many families caught up in the criminal justice system “don’t have $40 to spare.”

SHIRA SCHOENBERG

 

FROM COMMONWEALTH

Wu claims victory: Boston Mayor Michelle Wu politely claims victory in her battle with state Education Commissioner Jeff Riley for control of the Boston Public Schools. She said the outcome was what she hoped for, even on data gathering, where Riley suggested he and the mayor had been at odds. 

– Riley said the talks broke down on Friday in part because the city pushed to hire an auditor to improve the accuracy of school data and Riley insisted on an independent auditor hired by the state. The final deal, negotiated Sunday night, gave Riley what he wanted, but Wu on Tuesday suggested that’s what the city wanted all along. “We finally arrived at a recognition that the Boston Public Schools and our city were never pushing back on data oversight or partnership from the state. In fact, that provision for an independent data auditor had been in many, many drafts from nearly the beginning of the discussions in this agreement,” Wu said. Read more.

2 police recertification questions tossed: Superior Court Judge Jackie Cowin orders the removal of two questions police are being asked to answer to obtain recertification. One question deals with social media activity and the other with membership in groups that unlawfully discriminate. Read more.

LeBoeuf to lose license 45 days: Rep. David LeBoeuf of Worcester, who is running for reelection, loses his license for 45 days, pays $1,380 in fines, and enrolls in a driver education program to resolve his arrest for drunk driving. Read more.

 

FROM AROUND THE WEB

 

BEACON HILL

Civil liberties groups are in opposition to police and prosecutors in the debate over a bill the Senate is poised to vote on that would change the state’s civil forfeiture law so that money from assets seized goes to the state’s general fund rather than law enforcement. (Eagle-Tribune)

The House is taking up a bill that would strengthen protections for Massachusetts abortion providers who serve out-of-state residents. (MassLive)

HEALTH/HEALTH CARE

New England could become a safe haven for people seeking abortions in a post-Roe world. (USA Today)

The US is boosting its vaccination strategy for people exposed to monkeypox. (Boston Herald)

WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONA

At a Boston rally, US Sen. Ed Markey blasts the US Supreme Court as “illegitimate” while US Sen. Elizabeth Warren calls it “out of control.” (Boston Herald)

Former White House assistant Cassidy Hutchinson delivers explosive testimony at a congressional hearing, saying President Trump wanted to lead an armed mob to the White House and physically assailed the Secret Service agent who told him it was not possible. (Washington Post)

ELECTIONS

GOP gubernatorial candidate Chris Doughty is launching a $500,000 advertising blitz against Democrat Attorney General Maura Healey rather than his primary rival Geoff Diehl. (Boston Globe)

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

More than half of the residents in communities such as Chelsea, Fall River, Lawrence, and Springfield lack access to high-speed internet service because they can’t afford it, the level of service is inadequate for the number of users, or they can’t access it properly because of inadequate wiring inside their dwellings. (Boston Globe)

​​Black and Latino households received more mortgages than ever in 2020, but their housing purchases continued to be confined to certain areas. (Boston Globe)

Former attorney general Martha Coakley leaves Juul Labs and returns to the Foley Hoag law firm. (Boston Globe)

EDUCATION

Key takeaways from the Boston Public Schools three-year improvement plan approved by the state and the city. (Boston Globe)

TRANSPORTATION

Boston Globe columnist Shirley Leung says concerns about the MBTA’s reliability and safety are a serious threat to the rebound of downtown Boston.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS

The former treasurer of the New Bedford police union is sentenced to three months in jail and two years of supervised release for stealing $50,000 in union funds. (Standard-Times)

A federal court is set to rule on whether to phase out a consent decree from the 1970s that requires Massachusetts police and fire departments to prioritize hiring Black and Hispanic job candidates. Only seven municipalities – generally heavily minority communities including Springfield, Worcester, and Lawrence – are still bound by the decree. (MassLive)

US Attorney Rachael Rollins drops the bribery case against two Haitian American businessmen after the FBI messes up evidentiary disclosures. (MassLive)

Ghislaine Maxwell, the socialite who conspired with Jeffrey Epstein to sexually exploit underage girls, is sentenced to 20 years in prison. (New York Times)