Overview
Our team helps strengthen relationships with our communities, provide wraparound supports for young people and returning citizens, and conduct trauma-informed responses when acts of violence occur in our neighborhoods. Our programs include this program for youth.
Sidestep
Side-Step was a pre-arrest youth diversion program designed to provide an alternative to formal justice system involvement for youth ages 10-17. This partnership between the Mayor’s Office, Baltimore Police Department, Baltimore City School Police, and youth-serving organizations focused on community outreach, violence prevention, and educational opportunities as proactive intervention strategies to address underlying risk factors such as poverty, exposure to violence, and unstable family or housing situations and connecting youth to supportive services that promote positive development and community engagement.
The City’s SideStep pilot launched in January 2022 in BPD’s Western District with technical assistance from the Center for Children’s Law and Policy. That pilot ended in 2024.
In addition to the SideStep pre-arrest diversion program, MONSE accepts referrals for young people who may have a history of engagement with the juvenile justice system to help them reconnect with our school system, improve mental and emotional stability, and develop productive conflict resolution skills.