If your child was arrested or cited in California, diversion means the case is handled outside formal juvenile court, or paused inside it, while your child completes a program of supervision, classes or counseling. Finishing successfully can mean no petition is filed or the petition is dismissed. Diversion is never automatic: probation, the prosecutor or the judge decides who receives it.
This page walks through what California's juvenile diversion laws say, who decides, what a program asks of a child, and what happens to the records afterward.
What Juvenile Diversion Means Under California Law
Diversion is a way of resolving a juvenile case through supervision and services instead of a full court case. To see why that matters, it helps to know the formal path it replaces.
A petition is the document that starts a juvenile court case. It is the juvenile version of charges, and it is not called a criminal complaint. Under Welf. & Inst. Code § 602, a minor between 12 and 17, inclusive, who is accused of breaking a law is within the juvenile court's jurisdiction, with exceptions in § 707. The court may then declare the minor a ward of the court, meaning the court takes legal authority over the child's supervision.
If a case goes forward, the judge holds an adjudication (or jurisdiction) hearing to decide whether the allegations are true. Juvenile court calls this finding an adjudication, not a conviction. If the allegations are found true, a disposition hearing follows, where the judge decides what happens next, such as probation. A disposition is not a sentence.
Diversion sits before all of that. Welf. & Inst. Code § 654 lets a probation officer place a minor in a program instead of filing a petition. Welf. & Inst. Code § 654.2 lets a judge pause a petition that has already been filed. In either case, the child has not been adjudicated.
The Three Main Types of Diversion in California
California law gives three main routes. Each applies at a different point in the case.
Informal supervision without a petition (§ 654). After investigating, a probation officer may, with the consent of the minor and the parent or guardian, refer the minor to services from a health agency, community-based organization, local educational agency, another appropriate non-law-enforcement agency, or the probation department. If probation provides the services, it may set a program of supervision "not to exceed six months." This happens before any petition is filed.
Informal supervision after a petition is filed (§ 654.2). Once the prosecutor has filed a petition, the court may, with the consent of the minor and the parents or guardian, continue the hearing for six months and order the same kind of supervision, without declaring the minor a ward. If the minor completes the program, "the court shall order the petition be dismissed."
Deferred entry of judgment (§ 790). This route applies to certain felony petitions. Under California Rules of Court, rule 5.800, a child who consents must enter an admission to the allegations, and a no-contest plea cannot be accepted. The court then sets conditions and review dates instead of moving to disposition.
Many counties also run their own programs through probation or the district attorney. The Judicial Council's guide for parents notes that "each county has different rules and different programs."
Who Qualifies — and What the Probation Department and Court Consider
Every one of these routes is discretionary. No minor is entitled to diversion as a matter of right. The probation officer, the prosecutor or the judge decides, and the same accusation can be handled differently in different counties or courtrooms.
Section 654 does push in one direction. When, in the probation officer's judgment, "the interest of the minor and the community can be protected," the officer "shall make a diligent effort" to use informal supervision. Beyond that, the decision depends on the facts of the case.
Welf. & Inst. Code § 654.3 makes a minor ineligible for supervision under § 654 or § 654.2 when a petition alleges a violation of certain Penal Code sections listed in § 654.3, including a gang-related offense; when the minor previously took part in § 654 supervision or was previously adjudged a ward under § 602; or when restitution owed to the victim exceeds $5,000. Each exclusion applies unless the court finds the interests of justice would best be served and states its reasons on the record. A minor's inability to pay restitution because of indigence cannot make the minor ineligible. Separately, offenses listed in Welf. & Inst. Code § 707(b), which include murder, robbery and certain assaults and weapons offenses, are excluded except in "unusual cases" where the court states its reasons on the record.
Deferred entry of judgment under § 790 requires all of the following:
- no prior wardship for a felony;
- the charged offense is not listed in § 707(b);
- no prior commitment to the state's Division of Juvenile Facilities;
- probation has never been revoked without being completed;
- the minor is at least 14 at the hearing;
- the minor is eligible for probation under the Penal Code provision that § 790 names;
- the charge is not one of the specific sex offenses involving an incapacitated victim that § 790 names.
The prosecutor reviews the file for these points. The court then decides whether the minor is also suitable.
What Diversion Conditions Typically Require
Conditions come from the probation department or the court and vary by case. The Judicial Council's arrest guide describes a voluntary program that "could be special classes, counseling, community service, or other activities," and notes that a parent may sign a contract that "can last 6 months." Section 654 adds that supervision may call for care and treatment for substance misuse. It also says that, when the program is under the procedure in section 654.2, it shall encourage the parents or guardians to join in counseling or education programs. Restitution, meaning money to compensate a victim for losses, can also be part of a case.
Probation or the court monitors compliance throughout. Beyond the basic length of each route, the statutes and rules set these timing details:
- § 654: probation may still ask the prosecutor to file a petition at any time during the supervision period or within 90 days afterward. If the minor has not participated within 60 days, probation may file or request a petition.
- § 654.2: the court may extend the six-month continuance if probation recommends. Probation reports to the court 15 days before the program ends. The family appears at the end of the six months and at each additional three-month period. If the minor does not complete the program, proceedings on the petition must go forward no later than 12 months from the date it was filed.
- Deferred entry of judgment: under rule 5.800, review dates may fall within 36 months, but dismissal cannot be considered until at least 12 months after the grant.
Not finishing a program sends the case back toward the formal process, through a petition or a resumed petition. What happens from there depends on the court.
What Happens to the Record After Successful Diversion
For many families, the record is the central concern. The answer depends on which route the case took.
When a minor satisfactorily completes a program of diversion or supervision to which the probation officer or the prosecutor referred them instead of filing a petition, Welfare and Institutions Code section 786.5 requires the probation department to seal the citation, arrest and other records in its custody relating to the arrest, the referral and participation in the program. Probation must notify the citing or arresting agency and the Department of Justice, which must seal their records no later than 60 days from that notice; within 30 days after they confirm the sealing, probation must notify the minor in writing that the record has been sealed.
When a minor satisfactorily completes § 654.2 supervision, Welf. & Inst. Code § 786 requires the court to dismiss the petition and seal records held by the juvenile court, law enforcement, probation and the Department of Justice. The arrest and proceedings are then "deemed not to have occurred," and the person may answer inquiries from employers and schools accordingly. Satisfactory completion means no new finding of wardship and no conviction for a felony or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude during the period of supervision, and no failure to substantially comply with reasonable orders within the person's capacity to perform. Unpaid restitution does not count as unsatisfactory completion. Under § 786(d), a court shall not seal a record or dismiss a petition under this section if the petition was sustained on a § 707(b) offense committed at 14 or older, unless that finding was dismissed or reduced to a misdemeanor or to a lesser offense not listed in § 707(b).
Welf. & Inst. Code § 781 covers sealing by petition. The person or the probation officer may petition five years or more after juvenile court jurisdiction has ended (or, if no petition was filed, five years or more after the citation or after being taken before a probation or law enforcement officer) or, in any case, at any time after the person reaches 18. Records are not erased at 18. The court must find that the person has not since been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, unless all such convictions were later dismissed, vacated, pardoned or reduced to misdemeanors not involving moral turpitude, and that rehabilitation has been attained to its satisfaction. For a § 707(b) offense committed at 14 or older that resulted in wardship, a petition may be filed only after the person has completed probation supervision and either was committed to the Division of Juvenile Facilities and is at least 21, or was not so committed and is at least 18. Those limits do not apply if the court dismissed the offense or reduced it to a misdemeanor, but a record of a § 707(b) offense committed at 14 or older for which the person must register under Pen. Code § 290.008 cannot be sealed.
School discipline and employment consequences can follow even a diverted case, and they depend on rules this page does not cover. Immigration consequences are governed by immigration law this page does not cover.
How Diversion Fits Into the Broader California Juvenile Justice Process
Diversion can feel like a side door. Seeing the whole hallway helps explain where that door sits. The juvenile court process in California usually runs like this:
- Arrest or citation.
- Probation intake.
- A decision to divert or to send the case to the district attorney.
- If the child is held, a detention hearing, where a judge decides whether the child stays in custody or goes home. The Judicial Council's guide says a petition must be filed within 48 hours of the arrest and the hearing held the next court day.
- Adjudication.
- Disposition.
- Later, possible appeal or sealing.
Section 654 diversion happens at intake. Section 654.2 supervision and deferred entry of judgment happen after a petition is filed but before disposition.
Diversion is also different from probation. Probation is a disposition ordered after adjudication, usually for a ward of the court. A child in § 654 or § 654.2 supervision has not been adjudicated a ward.
Transfer is a separate track. Under Welf. & Inst. Code § 707(a), a prosecutor may move to transfer a minor who was 16 or older at the time of an alleged § 707(b) offense or other felony. Section 707(a)(2) allows the same kind of motion for an individual who was 14 or 15 at the time of an alleged § 707(b) offense and was not apprehended before the end of juvenile court jurisdiction. The motion must be made before jeopardy attaches. The Judicial Council's court process guide explains the hearing, and the page on being tried as an adult goes further. Whether diversion remains possible during a transfer motion depends on the court.
For the most serious dispositions, current law uses secure youth treatment facilities. California's Division of Juvenile Justice no longer operates.
The page on juvenile crimes shows how charges move through the juvenile system.
If You'd Like to Talk Through Your Child's Case
Whether diversion is on the table turns on details: the offense alleged, whether a petition has been filed, the child's prior history and the stage the case has reached. This page explains California's diversion laws generally. It does not cover school discipline proceedings or immigration law.
You can request a consultation about a child's juvenile case through Juvenile Justice Defense Group.