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

Stoneleigh Fellow and Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer Samantha Melamed has published an article on the City of Philadelphia’s Juvenile Assessment Center and recent plans to divert young people from the justice system.

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.

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