Juvenile Diversion Guidebook (2011)

At one time or another, almost all adolescents engage in risky behaviors, act without thinking, and make bad decisions more often than they will as adults; thus, many may engage in what would be judged as illegal behavior.1 Most youth are not apprehended every time they do so, but arrest is a common experience among adolescents, especially for youth of color in urban areas. Yet only a minority of those youth will ever be arrested for a second delinquent act, or will become repeat offenders in adulthood.2 In other words, for the majority of youth who are arrested, their first delinquency is not a sign of a future delinquency problem.