Letter of Support from the Pre-Arrest Y outh Diversion and Development Community Collaborative
In January 2019, a youth-led community-based group, Pomona Students Union met with the Pomona Police Department advocating for a Pre-Arrest Y outh Diversion in Pomona. Since then, the advocacy for such programs continued with community-based organizations and partners such as PCS Family Services, Gente Organizada, Just Us 4 Y outh, Mayor Sandoval, the Pomona Unified School District, and Tri-City Mental Health.
Over the course of two years, the collaborative consistently met to organize and construct an informed argument that would encourage the City of Pomona to create its first pre-arrest youth diversion program. The collaborative then met on November 30th, 2021 to address the needs of at-promise youth in Pomona. The goal of the collaborative was to create a multi-agency investment in pre-arrest youth diversion. The efforts of the collaborative came to fruition in August of 2022, with Project Second Chance. A program that focuses on youth diversion and development housed within PCS Family Services, and funded by the County of Los Angeles.
Working meetings between PCS Family Services, Gente Organizada, JU4Y , and at-promise youth continued in order to find ways for the City of Pomona to adopt a long-term commitment to pre-arrest youth diversion at the City level and expand the list of divertible offenses. In November of 2022 the Pre-Arrest Y outh Diversion and Development Community Collaborative made up of PCS Family Services, Gente Organizada, and JU4Y met with Mayor Sandoval, PUSD Superintendent Knowles, Pomona Police Chief Ellis to present their findings and research on why a pre-arrest youth diversion program with an expanded list of divertible offenses would benefit and improve the lives of young people in the City of Pomona.
The collaboration between the City of Pomona and the Pre-Arrest Y outh Diversion and Development Community Collaborative strengthened and working meetings between the City, Police Department, and the Collaborative were set for 2023. The Collaborative and the City have been working together to design a policy that would cement, make it more expansive, and better serve the current and future generations of Pomona.
Pre-Arrest Y outh Diversion and Development Collaborative Just Us 4 Y outh
Gente Organizada
PCS Family Services
ATTACHMENT NO. 2