JUVENILE COURT AWARDS GRANTS TO DIVERSION UNITS

Summit County Juvenile Court Judge Linda Tucci Teodosio has announced that grant monies have been awarded to the diversion programs of 13 law enforcement agencies in Summit Court for fiscal year 2007. The awards went into effect July 1, 2006.

 Requests for proposals were sent out to every law enforcement agency in the county and 13 proposals were received. The agencies were asked to detail the size and history of their diversion programs, the population the program serviced and a description of services offered.

 In total, $204,576 were awarded to the 13 programs, reflecting a $5,000 increase from the awards rendered in fiscal year 2006. Police departments in Akron, Barberton, Bath Twp./Copley Twp., Cuyahoga Falls, Hudson, Lakemore, Mogadore, Munroe Falls, Northfield Village, Springfield, Stow and Tallmadge received grants, as did the Summit County Sheriff’s Office.

 “The Court is attempting to equitably distribute funds to the various diversion programs. Grants were given to every law enforcement agency that requested funding,” said Judge Teodosio.

 Diversion units are designed to take the cases of first or second time, lower level misdemeanants and provide programming and community service opportunities within their communities in order to keep the offenders’ cases from being referred for official handling by the Juvenile Court.

 “The diversion programs provide a great service to their communities and to the Court,” said Judge Teodosio. “By taking these cases, they prevent a youth from having an official juvenile record and it eases the strain on the Court’s docket. I hope the grant awards are a signal to the law enforcement agencies in the county how valuable the Court believes their diversion programs are, and how eager we are to continue our association with them.”