Young offenders who commit minor crimes will be given “a second chance” by Toronto police under a new program to be applied across the city.

Youths under the age of 18 will be able to avoid arrest or criminal charges if they agree to participate in a “diversion” program that aims to prevent repeat offences. It might help them find a job, beat a drug habit, deal with mental health troubles or bring them face to face with victims to recognize the impact of their crimes.

The goal is to reduce recidivism by providing alternatives to custody and overburdened courts, where some youths are more likely to learn about getting lawyers and saying nothing than about remorse and going straight, said Insp. David Saunders, who is overseeing the new program.

A diversion program was tried in 2002 as a pilot project in Scarborough. During a period of 20 months, almost 1,500 young people were sent to counselling and other programs, Saunders said. The first person diverted was a 17-year-old girl on social assistance who shoplifted a tube of lipstick from a Shoppers Drug Mart. Saunders has the girl’s occurrence report framed in his office.

Less than 4 per cent of diverted youths reoffended during the pilot project, he added.

“Youth got a second chance; they weren’t criminalized,” Saunders said. “The victims were very happy. A lot of people aren’t looking for their pound of flesh by sending people to court. What they really want is for young people to learn. They want them to be remorseful and to understand: Don’t do it again.”

Despite its success, the initiative wasn’t adopted across the police service. A handful of divisions have similar programs, but Toronto Chief Mark Saunders now wants it city-wide.

“We have the faith of the chief that this is the right thing to do,” Insp. Saunders said. “He’s committed to it.”

Det. Stella Karras, responsible for getting the initiative off the ground, said it will be fully implemented by early 2016. In the meantime, she’ll be training officers to make diversion decisions on a case-by-case basis.

“The mentality has to change,” Karras said. “A lot of officers are very strict — ‘Broke the law, must charge.’ They need to get an idea that there is a different way sometimes, and in some cases a better way.”

When there are reasonable grounds to believe a youth committed a minor offence — including shoplifting, mischief, minor assault or minor drug possession — the investigating officer will decide if the youth would be better served by a diversion program. Gun-related crimes won’t be eligible.

If so, the youth would sign a consent form. Within days, youth workers will meet with the youth and his or her guardian. They could decide on community work, counselling, mentoring, a “simple letter of apology,” or restitution, Karras said.

If the youth successfully completes the program, “the matter would be closed,” she added. If not, charges could still be laid.

“Youth are impressionable and sometimes fall in with a bad crowd,” Karras said. “And the justice system is overburdened — it’s really not the best place for most youth to be. They’re better served doing community work and getting some mentorship.”

Karras said 3,800 youths, aged 12 to 17, were arrested in Toronto in 2014 for criminal offences. This year, up to the end of October, 3,300 youth had been arrested. In both years, about 35 per cent of arrested youth were released unconditionally, with no charge laid.

Justice Brian Scully, who presides over youth cases at the 311 Jarvis St. court, applauded the initiative, noting diversion programs are mandated by the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

He believes it will especially help youth living in group homes while in the care of children’s aid societies. A Star investigation found a disturbing tendency in group homes to turn outbursts from kids usually suffering from trauma and mental health issues into matters for police.

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Scully sees troubled youth often charged simply for running away from group homes.

“When you criminalize running behaviour of a child who has been psychologically and emotionally traumatized, they’re being victimized again,” said Scully, who is involved in a federally funded pilot project to keep children in care out of the court system.

These youths quickly fall into a cycle of legal punishment, with bail conditions being imposed that they inevitably break, such as respecting a group home’s rules of behaviour.

Karras said her training for police officers will stress sending youths involved in group home incidents to diversion programs.

“Let’s leave court for the cases that really do need to go to trial.”