The City of Seaside Police Department in collaboration with the County of Monterey Behavioral Health, and Monterey Peninsula Unified School District has established a Juvenile Diversion Program that began in January 2004. The program was made possible as a result of a state grant from the Drug Free Schools program.

This program is an attempt to divert, or channel out youth offenders less than 18 years of age from the Juvenile Justice System.   The goal of the Youth Diversion Program at Seaside Police Department is to keep juveniles out of the justice system by providing positive alternatives.

The program serves as a resource and it’s intended for first time offenders, at risk youth, runaways, and those youth who are beginning to act out, and or demonstrate signs of inappropriate behavior at home, school and in the community.

The Diversion Program holds youth responsible for their acts and helps them with modification of their behavior.   The major focus of the program is accountability, restitution, community service, individual and family counseling, and extracurricular activities.

•  Youth admits the charge

•  It’s the youth’s first criminal offense

•  Youth is under age 18

•  Youth and parents agree to participate in the program

•  Youth and parents must contact the Youth Diversion Counselor within

   five business days of the initial citation

Police officers, fire department, school district, and probation make referrals to the Diversion Program.  Referrals are made for most misdemeanors and on rare occasion a few certain felonies by first time offenders.   The youth is cited to appear before the Youth Diversion Counselor, and after the initial interview and with the input of all involved, the Youth Diversion Counselor will draw up a contract that may include the following.

•  Written apology to the victim

•  15 hours community service

•  Financial restitution to the victim, depending on infraction

•  Homework related to the offense, i.e. research assignment

•  Referral and attendance to drug, alcohol, anger management, and/or

   individual and family counseling

•  Commitment to attend regular counseling sessions with Youth Diversion

   Counselor

•  Completion of the Youth Diversion Program

Failure to complete the Diversion Program will result in the case being sent for formal action to the Monterey County Juvenile Probation Department.

Youth will be given the opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities with the PAL program.  

Pal Link

www.seasidepolice.org/pal.html

Adolescence is a challenging period for both the adolescent and the parent. There are many resources online that provide support and advice to parents ranging from alcohol and drug usage among teens to safe sex and positive communication, please take the time to review the links I have listed on this page.

From Doctor Gary May’s book: “Child Discipline Guidelines for Parents”.

Parents experience a large amount of dissatisfaction and grief with their children during the stage of adolescence.   “Adolescence is not only a time of change but it is also a time when young people have as their principal psychological task the establishment of their own sense of personal identity”.   It’s normal that youth begin to be less responsive to parents and more attentive to their peers. At this stage it’s also common that youth will begin to develop discipline problems, at home and at school.

It’s important to establish clear and consistent boundaries for your teens.   When you impose a consequence, you   “must” be able to follow through, and the consequence must fit the offense, in other words, if you teen comes home late from a party, it’s unrealistic to tell your teen that he will not be allowed to go out for a month.    Often time’s parents impose unrealistic consequences that are difficult for the teen to adhere to, and for the parents to follow through.   When parents fail in this area, they are giving their teens a massage of inconsistency. This empowers the teen into believing that they can break the rules because mom and dad are all talk but are unable to follow through with what they say.

Most parents are aware that parenting is the most challenging job we will do in our lifetime, and yes, as difficult as it is, we also know how rewarding it’s.

Remember the following points

  You are your child’s most significant role model, and believe me he is watching you.   This means that as parents we must be aware of our own behavior, and be able to set a good example for our teens.   I tell my son “ if you don’t want to do as I say, just do as I do”.   Meaning that I am not expecting him to do anything that I am not doing myself.   Youth at this age are particularly sensitive to insincerity and prefer truthfulness. You cannot realistically expect your teen to follow rules that you, yourself are breaking.    For example, you may tell your teen,   “ I do not want you to smoke, drink alcohol, or do drugs.   However if you are not doing the same, your teen will feel that his behavior is acceptable, because he is watching you do it.

Respect

If we want our children to respect us, we must also respect them.   When we communicate with our children, we must do it in a positive manner. If we are disciplining them we must stay focused on the issue at hand and allow them the opportunity to tell us their side of the story.   They must get the message that although we are disappointed with their behavior, we still love them, and it’s their misjudgment that bothers us, not them.   “Separate the problem from the person”, the person is not the problem, the problem is the problem.   Stay solution focused, and involve your child in the solution process, pay careful attention to their thoughts and feelings and take them into account.   When you do this, your child will feel that he is part of the solution not the problem, and this helps your child feel competent and build his self-esteem.   Keep     insensitive criticism to yourself; do not use bad language when you address your child, because when you do, it teaches him that bad language is appropriate when a person is upset.   If you feel yourself getting too upset and unable to control your temper, put yourself on time out, tell your child that you are putting yourself on time out, because you are too upset, and you do not wish to say anything that is unfair or disrespectful to him.   This again, is teaching your child how to deal with anger in an appropriate manner.   When your child does something right take the time to notice, and knowledge what they did right.   This will let your child know that you don’t only focus on what he does wrong, but you also notice what he does right.