Every few weeks, Priti (Maya) Tayal looks forward to seeing Jane* walk through the doors of Hale `Ōpio Kaua`i Inc., the nonprofit that Tayal works for on Kaua`i—Hawai`i's northernmost island. Tayal is the community director at Hale `Ōpio, which offers a range of assistance to young people, from foster care and housing services to workforce development and college preparedness support. It also offers a Teen Court program, which is how Tayal first met Jane.

Jane came to Hale `Ōpio on a referral from the probation office: she was 17 years old, experiencing homelessness, and facing a criminal charge. Hale `Ōpio’s Teen Court diversion program was an alternative to Jane appearing in criminal court as part of her juvenile probation. Jane went through the Teen Court intake process, during which she spoke about what led to her arrest, her living situation, and her vision for the future. Hale `Ōpio staff compiled a case report on Jane’s experience that outlined what services could support her, which they passed on to a Teen Court judge, a volunteer attorney who presides over the program’s courtroom.

On the day of Jane’s hearing, the judge reviewed the report, spoke with Jane about her arrest, and handed down a list of tasks that Jane had to complete in order to graduate from Teen Court. In some Teen Court cases, the list includes community service requirements, apology letters, and educational courses. In Jane’s case, the judge required her participation in a victim impact course offered by Hale `Ōpio.

Jane’s day in Teen Court was more than two years ago. Shortly after her appearance before the judge, she finished the victim impact course and had the charge against her dropped. She then voluntarily enrolled in a Hale `Ōpio-led homelessness outreach program for people up to 21 years old, which helped meet her needs and set her up for sustainable success. She worked extensively with Tayal through that program. Now, with Hale `Ōpio’s continued support, Jane has stable housing and employment and is considering college.

Built for success

Jane’s case is far from an anomaly on Kaua`i. The Teen Court program—a partnership between Hale `Ōpio Kaua`i, the local school system, the courts, the mayor, and the Kaua`i Office of the Prosecuting Attorney (OPA)—has diverted hundreds of young people away from criminal prosecution and supported them in avoiding future involvement with the criminal legal system. It is built upon the host of support programs Hale `Ōpio offers, designed to meet the specific needs young people have, many of which surface through Teen Court hearings. So far, the program has been successful in guiding its participants toward positive outcomes: the preliminary findings of an ongoing evaluation conducted by Vera show that just 3.4 percent of participants between March 2020 and April 2023 were charged with new cases within a year of entering the program. That low recidivism rate stands in contrast to the nearly 21 percent recidivism rate for young people charged by OPA and not diverted to the Teen Court program.

Those two recidivism rates are not apples to apples, however: while some Teen Court referrals involved more serious charges, many stemmed from arrests made by police stationed in schools that involved relatively minor offenses like theft, low-level assault charges, or substance use violations. Further study is required to understand how much of the program’s low recidivism rate is a direct result of the program itself, and how much may be a function of the kinds of cases referred to Teen Court. Regardless, the program’s success with young people like Jane, along with the study’s promising findings, suggest that Teen Court could be an effective alternative for more young people, including those facing more serious charges.

Vera is conducting further research now, but OPA is already encouraged by the data. The office says that the success of the partnership with Hale `Ōpio is a testament to the value of providing services tailored to specific needs.

“It makes sense that providing folks with resources or tools to manage their emotions or their lives is going to set them up for success, as opposed to just putting them through a program that’s like a conveyor belt,” said Becky Like, Kaua`i County prosecuting attorney. “This program seeks to identify what the needs of the child are. It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. It offers more resources than the criminal [legal] system is currently able to offer kids.”

Hale `Ōpio also stresses that its success stems from its expansive programs beyond Teen Court, which it works to make easily accessible for everyone in a small, rural community of just 70,000 people. The organization recruits young people across the community for its programs, so participants are made up of both those referred by Teen Court and those who simply decided to sign up. And, critically, these services are built to integrate into participants’ lives, not be another cause of stress.

“We don't want to be pulling kids from school for three, four appointments,” Tayal said. “We try to offer classes during school breaks and in the evenings because [otherwise] parents have to miss work and kids have to miss school.”

A powerful tool for building safety

The program’s impact on the lives of participants like Jane underscores the value of diversion programs, which are among the most powerful tools a prosecutor can use to build community safety. Prosecuting anyone—particularly a young person—for an alleged crime does not ensure that they will not face a criminal charge again down the line. In fact, every year spent in prison increases a person’s chance of future arrest and incarceration. The Annie E. Casey Foundation reports that between 70 and 80 percent of young people who left residential correctional programs were rearrested within two or three years of release. Another study found that incarceration decreased the likelihood of a young person graduating from high school by 26 percent.

Diversion programs have gained traction nationwide, and more prosecutors are sending people to programs that deliver solutions beyond incarceration. However, these programs are not always available to everyone, especially people with limited financial resources. Accordingly, Vera's Reshaping Prosecution initiative is working with prosecutors and organizations across the country to make diversion program access more equitable.

The low recidivism rate of Teen Court participants in Kaua`i's county court system underlines the importance of that work and suggests that communities can benefit when its members insist on solutions tailored to young people’s needs, not just one-size-fits-all approaches that center punishment.

“It’s wonderful to have data that matches up to my experience working with program participants,” Tayal said. “Teen Court is a wonderful alternative to incarceration and allows us to address kids' needs effectively by providing expansive and consistent support.”

*Name changed to protect identity.