Second Chance Juvenile Diversion Program

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Executive Summary

Second Chance Juvenile Diversion Program is a nonprofit that gives young people ages 10 to 17 with a first, lower-level offense a way to take responsibility, repair harm and stay on track without a court record that follows them. Participation is voluntary and by agreement with prosecutors, police and probation.

A first arrest can start a path that is hard to leave, and diversion programs can reduce repeat offending and cost far less than court. A restorative conference lets a young person hear from the person harmed and agree on a plan to make things right, and a case manager helps with school, counseling and positive activities for about ninety days.

With this grant we will serve about 80 young people in Year 1 at 2 sites. We do not give legal advice, we respect every young person's right to a lawyer and we do not promise that any young person will avoid future trouble. We promise accountability, support and honest reporting.

Our Year 1 budget is about $157,500, growing to about $279,000 by Year 5 as we add sites, coaches and participants. Each year's budget is planned to balance, with a small surplus each year. We have 4 staff in Year 1 (an Executive Director, a Case Manager and a part-time restorative facilitator) and 7 by Year 5.

We are asking the Fair Futures Justice Foundation for $50,000 for the Case Manager and a counseling referral fund. Our other income and startup support cover the rest. These numbers are estimates based on the assumptions listed at the end of this proposal, and we do not promise any result beyond what we describe.

Company Description

Second Chance Juvenile Diversion Program is a nonprofit organization in Georgia. We are a registered charity with a volunteer board of directors, a written conflict-of-interest policy and a yearly budget the board reviews.

Our mission. To give young people who make a first mistake a way to take responsibility, repair harm and stay on track, without a court record that follows them.

What we do.
- Accept referrals of young people ages 10 to 17 with first-time, lower-level offenses from prosecutors, police and probation, by agreement.
- Run restorative conferences where the young person, family and, when willing, the person harmed agree on how to make things right.
- Assign a case manager to each young person for about ninety days.
- Connect each young person with school help, counseling and positive activities.
- Arrange community service placements and track completion.
- Report back to the referring agency on completion, never on private details beyond what the agreement allows.

Our values. Respect for every participant, honesty with families and partners, safety first and a place for everyone who wants to belong.

What we do not do. We do not give legal advice, we do not replace a young person's right to a lawyer and participation is voluntary. We follow the law on confidentiality and mandatory reporting, and we explain the limits to families. We do not promise that any young person will avoid future trouble. We follow the rules of our partner sites and our insurer.

How we got here. A group of probation officers, teachers and community members began holding restorative circles for young people after minor incidents at school. The circles worked well and agencies asked for more. We kept simple records of referrals and what happened. This proposal asks for support to move from school-based circles to a steady program with paid, trained staff and the materials to match.

Problem & Opportunity

A first arrest can start a path that is hard to leave, and young people from low-income neighborhoods are more likely to be sent into the court system for behavior that others are handled for at home.

Cost. Court involvement costs fines, fees, lost school days and lost work for parents, and each case costs the county much more than diversion.

Access. Few communities offer a structured alternative to court for young people with a first, lower-level offense.

Safety and trust. Victims, families and the community want accountability and assurance that harm is repaired and that the young person is supervised.

Missed benefits. A young person pushed into the court system may fall behind in school and may be more likely to offend again.

What we hear.
- A probation officer says many of her youngest cases are first mistakes.
- A mother says her son was afraid of what would happen to his future.
- A shop owner says he wanted an apology and a plan, not a record.
- A judge says she wishes more families could be offered a better path.

We do not claim that a program can solve every challenge. We believe that accountability that repairs harm, with real support, can keep a young person on track.

Products & Services

Second Chance Juvenile Diversion Program gives young people ages 10 to 17 with a first, lower-level offense a safe, welcoming place to take responsibility and get back on track.

How the program works.
1. Referral. Prosecutors, police and probation refer eligible cases under a written agreement, with the consent of the young person and a parent.
2. Intake. A case manager meets the young person and family, explains the program and rights and writes a plan.
3. Restorative conference. The young person, family and, when willing, the person harmed agree on how to repair the harm.
4. Support. The young person receives help with school, counseling referrals and positive activities for about ninety days.
5. Community service. The young person completes service hours at an approved placement.
6. Completion. When the plan is finished, we report completion to the referring agency under the agreement.
7. Follow-up. We check in at six and twelve months.

What a typical session looks like. Participants arrive and check in with a staff member, settle in together, work on the day's activity in small groups and finish with a short talk about what went well. Staff praise effort, correct mistakes kindly and make sure no one is left out.

Staff. Our case managers and facilitators are trained in restorative practice and youth development, pass a background check and are paid for their time.

Access and fairness. Programs are free. Services are free. We welcome every eligible young person and offer materials and conferences in English and Spanish.

Market Analysis

Who we serve. Young people ages 10 to 17 with a first, lower-level offense referred by prosecutors, police or probation in the county. Eligibility is set by a written agreement with referring agencies, with consent from the young person and a parent, and no one is excluded for family income.

How we estimate need. We cannot count every young person who could benefit, so we plan from what we can see. In our school-based circles we handled more cases than we could take, and referring agencies told us that many more first-time cases could be diverted than we can serve. For Year 1 we plan to serve about 80 participants at 2 sites. By Year 5, with more staff and sites, we plan to serve about 200.

Where participants come from.
- Prosecutors, police and probation officers.
- School administrators and counselors.
- Community and faith leaders.
- Families who contact us directly after a referral.

Who else benefits. Young people avoid a court record. Victims gain a voice and repair. The county saves court and detention costs.

What the numbers mean. Every number here is a young person who repaired harm and moved on. We keep our early counts modest and honest so we can do the work well.

Competitive Landscape

What young people can find today, and how we are different.

1. Juvenile court. Provides legal process and accountability, and its records can follow a young person. We offer an alternative for eligible cases.

2. Probation. Supervises young people and has high caseloads. We provide intensive support for those we accept.

3. School discipline. Handles school conduct and does not address outside offenses. We coordinate with schools.

4. Counseling programs. Valuable and not set up to repair harm to a victim. We refer when needed.

5. Informal handling by police. Quick and without support. We provide structure.

What makes us different.
- Voluntary and consented to by the young person and a parent.
- A restorative conference that centers the person harmed.
- A case manager for about ninety days.
- Clear reports to referring agencies.
- Follow-up at six and twelve months.

Why this gap matters. Existing programs do good work, and most serve people who can already pay or who live close to them. The people we serve are the ones left over: they live in the wrong neighborhood, have the wrong schedule or have no one to ask. We are built to reach them.

We have spoken with prosecutors, probation officers, school leaders and victim advocates to make sure we are filling a gap and not duplicating services. Their letters of support are in the attachments.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How young people and partners will find us.

Reaching young people.
- Agencies. We will meet prosecutors, police and probation to explain the program and sign written agreements.
- Schools. We will share information with administrators and counselors.
- Families. We will meet each family after a referral and explain every step in plain language.
- Community groups. We will talk with leaders who know families.
- Victim advocates. We will invite them to review our conference process.
- A simple website and a phone line with a text option.

Reaching staff and sponsors.
- Recruit case managers and facilitators through social work programs, restorative justice groups and youth service agencies.
- Offer an orientation, a background check and training in safety, privacy and respectful practice.
- Give partners a short report each quarter with counts of participants and what they said.

How we decide who joins. We use a simple sign-up form and enroll participants in the order received, with priority for those with the greatest need and for people new to the program. We keep a waiting list when the program is full.

What we watch. Sign-ups, attendance, plans completed, harm repaired and how many participants return for a second season.

Operations Plan

How the program will be carried out.

Timeline for Year 1:
- Months 1 and 2 (July and August): Hire the staff, buy equipment and materials, finalize the waiver, consent form and privacy policy with our attorney and sign site agreements.
- Month 3 (September): Sign agreements with referring agencies and begin accepting cases.
- Months 4 to 10: Intake, hold restorative conferences and manage cases, with monthly reports to agencies.
- Months 11 and 12: Hold follow-ups, survey participants and agencies, report to funders and plan Year 2.

Space. We work from a small office and hold conferences in neutral places such as libraries and community centers.

Safety and privacy.
- Conferences are voluntary for the person harmed, and a facilitator may stop or decline a conference when safety is a concern.
- Our staff follow mandatory reporting rules and explain the limits of confidentiality to every family.
- Every staff member and volunteer passes a background check and completes safety training.
- Staff work in pairs or in view of others whenever participants are minors or in a vulnerable situation.
- We keep an emergency plan at every site, and participants complete an emergency contact form.
- We keep records private, share them only with a participant's permission or as the law requires and follow a written policy.

Equipment. We buy about $5,500 of equipment once at the start: laptops and a secure case management system ($3,000), conference room furnishings and supplies ($1,500), locking file storage ($1,000). Later years replace or add a few items.

Staffing. In Year 1 I serve as Executive Director. The Case Manager, paid $42,000 a year, works with each young person and family. A part-time restorative facilitator, paid $22,000, leads conferences. We add a case manager in Year 3 and another in Year 5.

Management & Organization

Joyce Henderson, Executive Director. I lead the organization, report to the board and am responsible for budgets, partnerships and reporting. I came to this work as a probation officer who saw how often a first mistake became a path. I will complete the training we require of our facilitators so I understand the program from the inside. (Replace this paragraph with your own background.)

Staff. The case managers work with each young person and family, and part-time restorative facilitators lead conferences. Each passes a background check. These positions are part of our grant request.

Board of directors. Our volunteer board includes a retired judge, a probation officer, a social worker, a parent, a banker who serves as treasurer, an attorney and a victim advocate. The board meets every other month, approves our budget and reviews our safety plan. No board member is paid, and members with a conflict of interest step out of related decisions.

Advisory partners. A prosecutor, a school administrator and a restorative justice trainer give guidance twice a year.

Staffing and pay in this plan: Executive Director, paid $50,000 a year; case Manager, paid $42,000 a year; restorative Facilitator (part-time), paid $22,000 a year.

Milestones Narrative

Our goals, how we will measure them and when we plan to reach them.

Year 1 outcomes (July 2027 through June 2028):
- Serve about 80 participants at 2 sites.
- Run at least two full seasons and a summer session.
- Have at least 85 percent of participants attend most sessions.
- Have at least 80 percent of participants return for a second season.
- Receive positive feedback from at least 90 percent of families who answer our short survey.

What we count and how.
- Participants enrolled, sessions and games attended, from our records.
- Skills learned and goals met, from the coach's checklist.
- Equipment issued and returned, from our log.
- Participant and family feedback, from a short, confidential form.
We report what we find, including what did not work, and use it to improve.

Growth over five years.
- Year 2: About 110 participants at 2 sites.
- Year 3: About 140 participants at 3 sites.
- Year 4: About 170 participants at 3 sites.
- Year 5: About 200 participants at 4 sites.

Learning along the way. At the end of each quarter, the director and the board review the numbers and decide whether we are on track. If we are behind, we will adjust our outreach, our sites or our schedule before asking for more money.

After the grant. By Year 5, grants make up about 54 percent of our budget, down from about 59 percent in Year 1, as partners and donors give more. We will keep building those relationships every year.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $50,000 from the Fair Futures Justice Foundation for the Case Manager and a counseling referral fund, for July 2027 through June 2028.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Personnel: Case Manager salary, $42,000.
- Other: Counseling referral fund, paid directly to providers, $8,000.

Other money in the program. This request is about 53% of our Year 1 grant income. Other grants and the income lines below pay for everything it does not cover.

Year 1 budget: about $157,500, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $6,400 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: Grant Revenue $93,500; county Juvenile Justice Funding $40,000; community Partners $16,000; individual Donors $8,000. Year 1 costs: executive Director $50,000; case Manager $42,000; restorative Facilitator (part-time) $22,000; restorative Practice Training about $6,000; community Service Placements and Supplies about $4,000; counseling Referral Fund about $8,000; transportation about $5,000; evaluation about $4,000; administration and Insurance about $9,000; about $2,700 a year for the wear on equipment.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $15,500 are paid once from startup money, not from the yearly budget: $3,000 for laptops and a secure case management system; $1,500 for conference room furnishings and supplies; $1,000 for locking file storage; $3,000 for attorney review of the consent form, agency agreement and privacy policy; $1,500 for banners, bilingual flyers and a simple website; $3,000 for restorative practice training and background checks for the first team; $2,500 for first insurance payment.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($15,500), the cash the program uses before it balances (about $0) and a cash cushion of about $37,500, which is about three months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $53,000. We start with $8,000 from our founding board and $47,000 in startup support from a community foundation and a local business, $55,000 in all, which covers that amount with room to spare.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $157,500 in Year 1 to about $279,000 in Year 5. Grants are planned at $93,500, $80,000, $110,500, $120,000 and $151,000 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows: county Juvenile Justice Funding from $40,000 to $64,000; community Partners from $16,000 to $40,000; individual Donors from $8,000 to $24,000. Our surplus is planned at about $6,400 in Year 1, about $7,000 in Year 2, about $9,500 in Year 3, about $10,900 in Year 4 and about $13,600 in Year 5. We grow from 2 sites to 4 by Year 5, adding a part-time coach for each new site.

Savings. We plan to keep several months of costs in savings. The lowest year-end balance in the plan is about $50,700, at the end of Year 1. Some grant payments and partner payments arrive after we bill, so we plan for about $6,300 owed to us at the end of Year 1.

Cost per young person. In Year 1, our total costs are about $1,889 per young person served, which includes setting up the program. By Year 5, with more young person served and a trained team in place, that falls to about $1,327 per young person.

After the grant. County juvenile justice funding, corporate sponsors and individual donors grow every year, so grants become a smaller share of our budget. Participants and families share their stories, and businesses can sponsor a team or a season by name. We will look for partnerships with schools and the city that want a safe, free diversion option for every child.

Risks and how we will handle them:
- An injury. Certified coaches, proper equipment, groups matched by age and skill, a written emergency plan and insurance.
- A site is no longer available. We keep agreements with more than one site and a plan for bad weather.
- A coach leaves. We keep a list of trained backup coaches and share lesson plans.
- Low attendance. We adjust sites, times and rides based on family feedback.
- A privacy problem. We follow a written policy, use secure systems and train every staff member and volunteer.
- A grant ends. We keep savings and grow partner and donor support each year.

If you are just starting. A new organization can begin before it has its own 501(c)(3) status through a fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for you and passes them to your program, usually for a fee (commonly around 5% to 10% of the grant, sometimes more; ask before you agree). Another way is to start smaller: one neighborhood, a handful of young persons and a small team, tracked carefully. Strong results from a small start make larger grants easier to win.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach with this proposal:

- Your IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter, or your fiscal sponsor agreement.
- Your most recent financial statements and your current year budget.
- A list of your board members and what each one does.
- Signed letters of support from partner schools, agencies and sites.
- Your site agreements and your insurance certificate.
- Your consent, waiver and privacy policy.
- Your safety plan and background check policy.
- Your program outline and schedule.
- Quotes for equipment and materials.
- Resumes for your Executive Director and key staff.
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Grant Revenue: $93,500 in Year 1, growing to $151,000 in Year 5.
- County Juvenile Justice Funding: $40,000 in Year 1, growing to $64,000 in Year 5.
- Community Partners: $16,000 in Year 1, growing to $40,000 in Year 5.
- Individual Donors: $8,000 in Year 1, growing to $24,000 in Year 5.
- Pay (a full year, per person, including payroll taxes and workers' compensation): executive Director $50,000; case Manager $42,000; restorative Facilitator (part-time) $22,000.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: restorative Practice Training $6,000; community Service Placements and Supplies $4,000; counseling Referral Fund $8,000; transportation $5,000; evaluation $4,000; administration and Insurance $9,000. These grow between 4% and 5% a year.
- Equipment: $5,500 at the start, then $1,500 to $2,500 a year.
- Startup costs: $15,500, paid once from $55,000 in startup money.
- Participants served: about 80 in Year 1, growing to about 200 in Year 5. Sites: 2 in Year 1, growing to 4 by Year 5. Cases are accepted year-round and each plan lasts about ninety days.
- About 4% of each year's income is still owed to us at year end.
- Tax: none, as a nonprofit.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your own quotes and real budget.

Startup Costs