Here in Florida, when a youth’s bad behavior brings them into contact with law enforcement there is a chance they will be diverted into a program that will keep them out of the juvenile justice system — providing their offense is a misdemeanor and generally non-serious.
The program, called Juvenile Civil Citation, was first enacted in Florida in 1990 but only a few counties used it until 2011 when lawmakers amended the program to require the establishment of civil citation or similar diversion programs at the local level.
A new law signed at the end of last month by Governor DeSantis (HB 1181) makes some minor changes to the program and redesignates Civil Citation programs as "delinquency citation programs."
The goal is basically to address behavioral needs of youth during their first contact with law enforcement in order to try and keep them out of trouble in the future — and keep them from winding up with a criminal record so early in their lives. The officer on scene — whether it be a school resource officer at a school, or an officer in the field — is who determines whether the youth is given a chance to enter the program, based on whether they already have a previous arrest record and what they’ve done.
The recidivism rate for youth who complete the program is between 4 and 5% which makes Civil Citation the most successful youth diversionary program available.
The Collier County Sheriff’s Office’s Juvenile Civil Citation Program has been in place since 2003. Last year in 2023, 73% of eligible youth were given the opportunity to enter the Civil Citation Program -- mostly through cases that happened in schools. 90% of eligible youth went into Civil Citation when their offense happened at school, while only 27% did if their actions occurred outside of school. Statewide about 66% of eligible youth are given the opportunity. But each county, within each judicial circuit, administers their own programs so the numbers vary greatly from county to county. You can dig into the statistics for Collier County, and all of Florida's 67 counties here.
We learn more about how the youth Civil Citation diversion program in Collier County works with the chair of the League of Women Voters of Collier County's Juvenile Justice Committee; and the Collier County Sheriff's Office's Juvenile Resource Center Supervisor.
Guests:
Caren Langevin, Juvenile Resource Center Supervisor with the Collier County Sheriff’s Office
Libbie Bramson, chair of the League of Women Voters of Collier County's Juvenile Justice committee
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