The Young Adult Diversion Program: Pennington County State’s Attorney’s Office (Rapid City, South Dakota)

By Robin Olsen

The Young Adult Diversion Program in the State’s Attorney's Office for South Dakota’s Pennington County provides interventions to people in the community with the goal of getting better results for the individual and the public. It uses an individualized approach to each case that is aimed at understanding the reasons why the person engaged in the behavior that led to a case being filed. Leadership and program staff devote many hours to building and finding community support to provide services for participants. Since the initial pilot program, diversion programs have grown in the office, and it now has four programs, each with its own focus: young adult diversion, adult diversion, drug diversion, and domestic violence diversion. This case study, which is part of the Mapping Prosecutor-Led Diversion Project, centers on the Young Adult Diversion Program’s individualized approach to diversion and the networked approach its leadership and program staff have used to build its capacity and scope, highlighting takeaways for other prosecutors looking to launch similar programs. The information included is based on the office’s submitted response to the Mapping Prosecutor-led Diversion Project survey and interviews with program leadership, staff, and partners. This case study is intended as an overview of this diversion strategy and is not an assessment or evaluation.

Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2022. 5p.