Chair asks how adjustment compares to prior years; Dessimore discusses eligibility and training
Brooks-Powers asks how the adjustment rate compares to prior years and administrations. Dessimore says she is reviewing why cases were not adjusted, notes designated felonies cannot be diverted without court approval, and plans training and retraining for juvenile staff by March.
We want to give that young person an opportunity.
So that is something that I'm committed to with my team to make sure that we get to a place where we're used to.
I mean, I've been around, and I know when the adjustment rate was very high at 41.
And I think that we are going to set a goal of 20% for the next fiscal year to reach.
You waited in my next question, so it seems like we were sharing notes, it feels like, today.
But I was going to ask, how does it compare to prior years and prior administrations?
So it sounds like there has been some significant change.
We have to really, what I plan on doing and what I've started doing is just looking at why we made certain decisions, right?
And we want to look at what were the class and charges, again, what was eligible.
And, of course, you know, with the eligibility, that relates to the charge.
We cannot.
Divert a designated felony case, those serious charges, without the approval of the court.
So then we want to make sure that those that are suitable and eligible, what is making us determine that they're not and we have to refer them to further court process.