CLEVELAND — A Cleveland program to help kids get on the right path just got more money, but the need may be bigger after months of violent carjackings, beatings, and stolen car crashes.
The city council's Safety Committee on Wednesday approved $44,700, renewing a grant for the city’s Youth Diversion Program.
Teenagers and their families are the focus of the program designed to give support and re-direction.
“I think often people get fixated on the youth, but they also don’t recognize we’re dealing with the family,” said Community Relations Board Director Angela Shute-Woodson.
The Youth Diversion Program is run out of Shute-Woodson’s office.
Safety Committee members were told on Wednesday the most common offense is assault.
So far this year, 135 kids have been referred to the program by the prosecutor’s office.
“But there’s a lot of first-time individuals, and we make assumptions, of course, assuming it might be peer pressure, just neighborhood pressure, in the school that’s leading into doing something unlawful,” Shute-Woodson said.
When asked if the number of first-times was striking to her, Shute-Woodson said, “It kind of is this time, yeah, for this year, we kind of laughed, maybe it was COVID and isolation of COVID that is now making them explore, but just the social media peer pressure."
We’ve told you about a spike in stolen cars in the city for more than a year. Cleveland Police say most of them are taken by teenagers.
This year, stolen cars have been used in violent crimes and led to deadly outcomes.
A 16-year-old was charged with murder in juvenile court but is expected to face trial as an adult in the stolen Kia crash that killed Janet Reyes in Old Brooklyn.
A dozen teenagers were arrested and charged in a brutal attack on a man at a gas station, including, prosecutors say, a 12-year-old who was sitting in a stolen car.
“It’s a major issue given the fact that everybody has guns — young people are carrying guns,” Ward 1 Council Member Joe Jones said.
During Wednesday’s safety committee meeting, members approved $44,700 for the program, but it still needs a full council vote. The money is through the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court general fund, which contracts with community diversion programs, including Cleveland’s.
The program staff noted funding is a challenge.
"There’s never enough money based off the numbers and the rising numbers we have been seeing in this arena with juveniles,” Shute-Woodson said.
Shute-Woodson said they try to keep a cycle from beginning and save young people from incarceration.
“Parents need to recognize it’s okay to ask for help,” she said.
If the child doesn’t successfully complete the program, according to the juvenile court, staff will try to figure out why and see if other services are more appropriate.
If that doesn’t work, they’ll be referred back to the prosecutor’s office, where judges might get involved.
Shute-Woodson said they usually see the resources about mid-February or sometimes March.
The city said the money approved for 2022-2023 was a little over $70,000.
