Philly leaders agree on a need to divert kids from the justice system. But can they agree how

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Experts say Philly's brand-new Juvenile Assessment Center, or JAC, is crucial to the goal of diverting kids from the juvenile justice system. Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel has a different plan.

In November, Philadelphia quietly opened its first-ever Juvenile Assessment Center - a hub where children and teens under arrest can access services and, in some cases, be diverted out of the juvenile justice system before ever being charged.

It was the culmination of more than six years of planning, research, and negotiation - and a solution to the city's chronic failure to process arrested youths within six hours, as required by state and federal law.

Now, just as quietly, the city plans to close the building on 21st Street near the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, known as the JAC, and decentralize its work.

Instead, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel - who led a groundbreaking diversion initiative for the Philadelphia School District that cut in-school arrests by 90% - envisions a system in which police officers will be trained to connect youth with community-based crime-prevention programs instead of arresting them. He said he has convened a task force that will help develop a list of charges that will be designated for diversion at the point of arrest.

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