Research suggests diversionary practices for first-time low-level offenses can substantially reduce subsequent criminal legal system involvement and minimize long-term collateral consequences. Diversion programs are one way for prosecutors to leverage their discretion to divert individuals charged with lower-level offenses to community-based services to address underlying behaviors and needs. This paper focuses on the implementation of one type of diversion program—Project Reset—in two jurisdictions: Jefferson County, Alabama, and Westchester County, New York. Project Reset is a prefiling diversion model in which a prosecutor establishes an office-wide policy to divert people charged with certain offenses to participate in a brief community-based behavioral intervention rather than undergo traditional case processing. RTI International partnered with prosecutors’ offices in these two counties to evaluate their adoption of Reset. Using data from site visits, stakeholder interviews, and monthly program check-ins, this paper highlights the initial implementation of Reset in these two jurisdictions, describes program challenges and successes, and provides recommendations for other jurisdictions interested in implementing Reset in their communities. Although both sites faced challenges, our findings elucidate notable success in the initial implementation of the program, with promising results seen in stakeholder buy-in, program participation, and providing services to individuals while promoting accountability.
