PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office said they need more volunteers for their Youth Aid Panel Juvenile Diversion Program.
Advocates are convinced this is one workable cog in the city’s wheel to deterring violent crime.
The Youth Aid program is an alternative for first-time offenders of non-violent crime to face a panel of volunteers instead of a judge.
There are currently seven panels throughout the city, made up of volunteers who live in their respective neighborhoods.
“The program is successful because it uses volunteers from your own communities, which offers a greater impact," said Juvenile Unit Victim and Witness Coordinator Michelle Neil.
"These panelists are directly invested in the youth and their communities, and thus holding the youth accountable.”
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The program has been in effect for over 30 years. It partners with the community to get kids on the right path.
The COVID-19 pandemic made things challenging, but over the last two years, 75 kids who committed minor crimes were diverted and kept out of the criminal justice system.
“That involves more practice of love and care, more time for them to work with their parents on how to restore the harm that they caused, and we can provide interventions to help them not go down the wrong path," said District Attorney Juvenile Diversion Office Program Manager Faith Harris.
First Assistant District Attorney Robert Listenbee said volunteers are at the heart of this initiative.
Related podcast: A non-violent crime may eventually not be a crime in Pennsylvania.
"Some of them work with our young people not for one year, but for four or five years," said Listenbee.
"Those young people become connected to an adult that is committed to their lives and sees more in them then they see in themselves.”
A teen was caught stealing a scooter from Katherine Zakinsky. They went through the program, and Zakinsky herself became a volunteer.
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“I really like to not be left ignorant. I’ve been in the city for 15 years and I guarantee I probably know more about what goes on in the streets in the friends I have," she said.
“These kids have a lot to deal with in their lives. We really try to enhance it in some way and try to direct them in a way that they feel good about themselves.”
District Attorney Larry Krasner said it's a way to deter violent crime. He was asked about the program in relation to the case of the 12-year-old who was accused of firing at officers before being fatally shot by police.
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"I would love to see a day when we don't have questions about 12-year-olds who allegedly have guns, because 12-year-olds [won't] have guns,” he said.
“I would love to see that, and what's happening here is, I hope, a step in that direction."
Drexel University is studying the efficacy of the program.
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Related podcast: A show about making youth a part of the solution to gun violence in Philadelphia.
