Part 1: Juvenile Court Diversion is Cheap and Effective, But Inconsistent Across NH

Women-led dialogue circles in Maiduguri, Nigeria, have drawn over 1,000 gang members into conversation about peace, persuading some to renounce violence and become community advocates.

Richmond's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Oakland's Department of Violence Prevention use credible messengers, targeted intervention, and coordinated city infrastructure to interrupt cyclical gun violence. These tactics helped both cities achieve record-low homicides in 2025, with Richmond so successful it may no longer qualify for state violence-reduction grants.

Juvenile Hearing Boards in Rhode Island divert first-time youth offenders from traditional detention to community-based volunteers who assign restorative sanctions like community service and counseling, resulting in a recidivism rate of less than 10% compared to the state's overall 33% three-year recidivism rate.

The Dallas County deflection program diverts low-level, non-violent offenders (many experiencing homelessness and mental illness) away from jail and toward voluntary mental health, substance abuse, and stabilization services. The program served 918 people last fiscal year and started a newer eight-bed pilot that connected 11 clients with services in its first month of operation.

The violence prevention program Choose to Change pairs cognitive behavioral therapy with intensive mentoring for high-risk Chicago teens, resulting in participants being 31% less likely to be arrested than their peers who did not participate in the program.

Birmingham’s Offender Alumni Association is a group of violence intervention specialists that check in with gun violence patients at the hospital to offer mental health services and case management to prevent reinjury and retaliatory violence. Since launching, the group has taken on 144 clients, providing wrap-around services to victims and their families, including mentoring, emergency relocation and funds for medicine, groceries, rent and utilities.

Vermont built volunteer-led Circle of Support and Accountability groups into its reentry system to help keep those who’ve committed sexual crimes from reoffending. The volunteers meet with people who were formerly incarcerated weekly to offer advice, encouragement, and support while they transition into life outside of prison.

The Institute for Nonviolence Chicago is working to reduce gun violence by reaching out to victims and perpetrators immediately after the violence. The organization negotiates peace and offers cognitive behavioral intervention services to help them develop strategies to keep negative emotions from turning into violent actions.

A partnership between the local school district, police and the nonprofits the Karen Organization of Minnesota and The Urban Village is helping fight addiction and gang influence among Karen youth. Since the partnership was formed, overdoses among youth have decreased significantly, and some students have begun forming supportive relationships with specialists from nonprofits and local police whom they can lean on when they need to.

Trauma recovery centers are spreading across the United States as a way to help people involved in violent crime escape it and prevent future crimes. These centers provide personalized, wraparound services to anyone in need, regardless of whether the crime they survived was reported or whether they’ve participated in violence in the past.