A.R.C. Diversion Program

What is the A.R.C. Diversion Program

The term "A.R.C." stands for "Advocating Responsible Choices". The Marina Police Department’s ARC Program is a unique blend of city employees, school personnel, counselors, and Law Enforcement personnel working collaboratively to provide a wide range of intervention and prevention programs for youth who exhibit pre-delinquent behavior. Such anti-social behaviors include truancy, vandalism, substance abuse, theft, and child victimization. The goal of the A.R.C. Program is to intervene in the lives of at-risk youths before they commit serious crimes. In order to divert at-risk youths from criminal careers, the program seeks to address both pre- and post-criminal behaviors with a two pronged approach. The two components of the program will be a Criminal Diversion component and an Educational component.

The A.R.C. Program is an unprecedented effort in the city of Marina to address issues involving juvenile crime. It is a multi-governmental agency and community collaborative involving many different resources and people. The following is a list of some of the involved entities:

  • Marina Police Department
  • Marina Recreation and Cultural Services Department
  • The Marina Teen Center
  • Marina Police Cadet and PAL Programs
  • Monterey County Probation Department
  • Monterey Peninsula Unified School District
  • Second Chance Family and Youth Services
  • Monterey County Rape Crisis
  • California State University Monterey Bay
  • Monterey County Behavioral Health Department

The primary vision of the A.R.C. Program is to teach juvenile offenders responsibility for their decisions they make and the acts they commit.

The Diversion Component

The Diversion program is designed to keep first time juvenile offenders out of the court system. It is based on the belief that, in many instances, there is a more appropriate and beneficial way to prevent future offenses. If a juvenile successfully completes the program, the charges will be dropped and there will be no court/criminal record of the offense.

Juveniles may be eligible for diversion of the arrest for an offense in each of the following school related offense categories:

  • Alcohol, Tobacco and Drug related offenses
  • Assault offenses
  • Property offenses
  • Other school-related offenses

ARC is designed to intervene in the lives of at-risk youths before they commit serious crimes. ARC is a community-based alternative program for the first time offender of a minor crime. Juveniles are referred to the program through contacts and arrests by patrol officers.