Earlier intervention planned in juvenile diversion program

LACONIA — Belknap County’s Restorative Justice program provides early intervention for some non-violent offenders to get them the help they need so they don’t ultimately end up in jail.

Prosecutors and police make referrals.

Mike MacFadzen, executive director of Belknap County Restorative Justice, told county commissioners Thursday he is planning for the program to work more closely with schools in the coming academic year to identify at-risk young people.

These students could then receive counseling and education through the program.

“I’m working with Darryl Glendye, the chief of the Laconia Juvenile Probation and Parole, to develop some preventative and education programs for middle and high schools here in Belknap County, specifically Laconia,” he said.

“These are going to focus on truancy, decision making, drug and alcohol prevention and education programming. This is something both Darryl and I feel is very important for Laconia, the county and other schools.”

The program would be patterned after one in Merrimack County.

Truancy is one marker that a student may be heading for a dangerous path and could benefit from the program.

“When a student is missing 10, 11, 12 days of school, there is usually a lot of things going on,” MacFadzen said. “There may be some drug and alcohol issues. There may be other things going on, bad decision making.

“If we can nip it in the bud, we might be able to make a difference later on down the road, so that these kids are either not going to come into the juvenile system as a delinquent or come in to the adult system with a misdemeanor or felony arrest or a charge.”

MacFadzen said his goal is to have programming available for the start of next school year to help with students identified as at risk. He is planning a formal presentation for school officials.

The Restorative Justice diversion program is available to juveniles and adults. It is called restorative justice because it focuses on repairing harm to victims.

About three-quarters of those who complete the program stay out of the criminal justice system for at least three years.

MacFadzen said national statistics bear out the relationship between substance abuse and criminal behavior.

“Department of Justice statistics state there is a population of 2.3 million people in jails and prisons across the country,” he said. “The CDC estimates 2 million of them meet the definition for alcohol or substance abuse dependency, so clearly drugs and alcohol really drive the crime in this country, and mental health is a co-occurring issue.”