CA’s diversion saved her from prison and death young

By Claudia Gonzalez, especially for CalMatters

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When I was younger, I couldn’t imagine a future for myself other than going to jail or dying young.

But today, I’m a college graduate and senior policy advocate for the Vera Institute of Justice’s California team, where we promote the end of mass incarcerationprotecting immigrant communities and racial justice.

What changed my life?

Instead of being locked up after my last arrest, I got a diversion. Diversion programs keep people in their communities while working with hours of behavioral health programs, job training and other support structures to break the cycle of incarceration.

I first encountered the justice system as a child when a family member was investigated for child sexual abuse in my family. I had heard that a detective was looking for me, and even though I was one of the victims, I thought I was in trouble.

On television, we see child victims being escorted to safety, connected to therapists or social workers, and treated with dignity and respect.

In real life I got a call from a detective. The police treated me like I was the perpetrator and I was horrified. They didn’t see me as a victim. They never offered me any services or support. The experience – both the abuse and the investigation – haunted me and consumed my life.

My family and I were stuck in a dangerous cycle. My father was in prison most of my life. My brother soon followed as one of the first young people sentenced to life in prison under Proposition 21, which sent many juvenile offenders to adult court.

I ended up in a similar lifestyle. When I was 12, my friend was attacked by a rival gang outside a 7-Eleven. He died in my arms on the way to the hospital.

Traumatized and depressed, I couldn’t get out of bed or make it to class. My school decided the best way to deal with my truancy was to arrest me. I was put into the school-to-prison pipeline instead of being offered an off-ramp.

Sometimes I was in and out of jail on gang-related charges. Many other women in the correctional system were like me; they have experienced child sexual abuse, sexual abuse or human trafficking.

But my last arrest was different. A judge and a public defender saw in me the ability to grow and change.

I was enrolled in a six-month office technology program at an adult school. I worked overtime to finish it in a month. It became my foundation for higher education, meaningful employment, and deeper engagement with my community.

This led me to community college where I got a 4.0 my first semester and was invited to the honor society and joined the student government. I got into UC Berkeley on a full ride as a Regents’ and Chancellor’s Scholar, and now I have a career advocating for other women like me.

There are many of us survivors on the streets and in California prisons who have been given few options other than imprisonment or death. More need than the chance I was given.

They want to stop the harm they suffered from happening again. If we give them opportunities for redemption and hold each other accountable for change, we can create a future of safety, justice and hope.

Research shows diversion programs reducing reoffending rates half.

California could take a step forward on this path with Assembly Bill 1231a critical option for survivors of the criminal justice system. The bill would allow people accused of non-violent crimes to get help through diversion programs, where they would be accountable to the court and to themselves to build a different life.

Written in close collaboration with survivors, it would allow judges to weigh mitigating factors for people who have experienced domestic violence, sexual abuse or human trafficking and develop diversion plans to help them turn their lives around, support their families and pay compensation to those they have harmed.

But the bill did not receive enough votes in the assembly after the amendments and reconciliation process. This sparked opposition from law enforcement who saw punishment as the only tool to deal with our crime problems.

Punishment is not prevention, and prison is not the way forward.

Every Californian deserves a chance to get better. With opportunity and support, my story can become commonplace. We can protect each other and improve ourselves and our communities instead of resigning ourselves to violence, crime and a bleak future.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.