(C) South Dakota Searchlight
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Task force: Young adults up to 25 need special attention from courts, corrections [1]
['John Hult', 'More From Author', '- November']
Date: 2023-11-02
People between 18 and 25 years old are more likely to commit crimes, get arrested and lose momentum in their emerging adult lives as a result.
Early intervention and structured support can help keep them out of the justice system altogether.
At least that’s what criminal justice research suggests.
But under South Dakota law, courts and corrections can only help pay for intervention programs that are “evidence-based,” meaning those whose approaches have peer-reviewed science behind them.
Getting that “evidence” is expensive, time-consuming and especially hard to come by for start-up programs in rural parts of South Dakota, as it was for Pennington County’s Oyate Court, a diversion program led by Lakota elders and funded without state help.
A study group of criminal justice experts wants lawmakers to clear a funding path for programs like that.
Adjusting state law to open the door to more innovative, emerging and culturally focused approaches to diversion for young people is the first recommendation on a five-point list produced by the state’s Barriers for Emerging Adults Task Force.
The other five recommendations are:
Encourage counties to put non-violent 18- to 25-year-old offenders in diversion programs that keep them out of the courtroom and clear their charges upon successful completion, as courts already do for those younger than 18, and pay counties for successful diversions.
Train court and corrections employees and their community partners on the developmental differences between emerging adults and those older than 25.
Extend access to the cognitive behavioral therapy and skills-building programs now used for minors to those older than 18.
Adjust court and supervision practices across the state Unified Judicial System to allow for tailored support programs for those 18-25 years old.
The study group met virtually on Thursday to finalize the report. In the months between the task force’s creation this spring by the Legislature and this week’s meeting, the members gathered three times to study various approaches and discuss how to better help young adults learn from their interactions with the justice system and avoid coming back.
“If you can divert them and they stay out of the system, that’s great for the individual. It also saves a lot of money for the system in the long-term,” said State Court Administrator Greg Sattizahn, who chairs the task force.
The report points to Pennington County as a place where diversion programs for younger adults have paid off. More than 1,000 have been funneled into diversion in the past five years, and just over half made it 18 months without breaking any laws, making them eligible to have their charges cleared.
“Every case is reviewed and is eligible for diversion if the person pleads guilty to the charges, the victim consents, and the case occurs in Pennington County,” the report says.
Before voting to send the report to South Dakota Supreme Court Chief Justice Steven Jensen, Gov. Kristi Noem and lawmakers, the task force made a few slight adjustments.
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The draft report recommended requiring all cases involving people 18-25 to be reviewed for possible diversion, which caught the attention of Pennington County State’s Attorney Lara Roetzel and Minnehaha County State’s Attorney Daniel Haggar.
Haggar’s office also offers diversion programs for adults, but the Sioux Falls-based prosecutor didn’t want to see a mandate to review all cases.
“All of the sudden it’s not optional anymore. And what are the criteria? Is that mandates coming from the Legislature?” Haggar said. “That makes it difficult to tailor these programs for these young adults.”
Roetzel said she couldn’t support a requirement unless additional funding were attached. Her office has several dedicated staff for diversion, which she said are more intensive cases to manage than most. Both prosecutors wanted to see such diversion reviews recommended but not required.
Pennington County Public Defender Eric Whitcher worried aloud that striking the “requirement” language could be a problem, especially in counties less committed to the concept of diversion.
“I’m concerned that we’ll have a patchwork of state’s attorneys that are fully engaged in diversion and those that are not, so that you have a real disparity and outcomes for individuals,” Whitcher said.
Minnehaha County Deputy Public Defender Betsy Doyle suggested compromise language that would recommend financial incentives to counties that use diversion programs, which the group ultimately backed. The original report said that the state “may” offer financial incentives to counties.
The report and other materials on young adults, including a 2022 report on their outsized impact on the justice system, are available online.
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https://southdakotasearchlight.com/2023/11/02/task-force-young-adults-up-to-25-need-special-attention-from-courts-corrections/
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