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Guidelines for Referrals

Referrals for any juvenile may be done by contacting our office at (620) 272-3695, by email, or in written form:
Juvenile Diversion
607 W. Santa Fe
Garden City, Ks 67846

Diversion Officer

A Status Offender Diversion Officer can be reached on a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on-call basis in the event of an emergency through the Police Dispatcher at (620) 276-1300. Any referrals made need to have as much information as possible to what the current situation is and demographics on the referred juvenile with a written request for Status Offender Intervention. At this time the case will be assigned to an Officer for immediate investigation and the intake process will begin.

Status Offender Intervention

During the initial intake visit, the purpose of Status Offender Intervention is explained and a juvenile's history is obtained. The reason for the referral and events leading up to the offense is discussed. Other areas of the juvenile's life such as drug and alcohol use, school progress and behavior, gang involvement, home situation and communication, compliance with parent's rules and regulations are also investigated at this time.

Diversion Contract

The officer then explains in great detail the Diversion Contract and the conditions necessary to have the case successfully diverted from the court system. It is made clear whether the Diversion Agreement is to be an Informal Diversion (case has not been filed in court) or a Formal Diversion (case has been filed in court but not yet adjudicated). The juvenile and parents must agree to the contents of the contract before anything is signed.

Contract Violations

The contract is then supervised by the assigned officer, with a minimum of one contact per week by the officer (this can go up to the day reporting level in which case the juvenile is required to report to the assigned Diversion Officer on a daily basis) any violations are dealt with by administrative sanctions assigning community work service, loss of privileges, or tighter supervision.

Drug Testing

Regular testing of the Juvenile's blood, breath, or urine is done to detect the use of alcohol, narcotics, controlled substances or poisons.  Regular curfew checks are also maintained until the completion of the Diversionary period.