Case Study: How Yolo County Used Data to Expand Diversion and Create Better Outcomes

Situation

The Yolo County District Attorney’s Office believed that diversion programs could improve outcomes for individuals and strengthen community safety. While the office had already established a restorative justice program, leaders wanted to expand access to diversion, particularly for eligible felony cases, and ensure those efforts were producing equitable, measurable results.

To move beyond good intentions, the office needed a way to track diversion outcomes, evaluate progress, and make data-informed policy decisions.

Problem

Like many prosecutor’s offices, Yolo County faced challenges in understanding whether diversion policies were achieving their intended impact.

Without consistent, transparent data, it was difficult to answer important questions such as:

• How many eligible individuals were being diverted?
• Were diversion opportunities being offered equitably across different populations?
• Which types of offenses were most frequently resulting in diversion?
• Were policy changes actually increasing the use of diversion over time?

Without this visibility, it was difficult to measure success, identify gaps, or build public trust in diversion as an effective public safety strategy.

Solution

Measures for Justice partnered with the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office to launch Yolo County Commons, a public data platform that allows prosecutors, community members, and policymakers to track diversion outcomes and other key case processing metrics.

Working closely with the office and its Multi-Cultural Community Council, the team established a clear policy objective: increase felony diversion rates to 10%.

Commons gave the office the ability to:

• Monitor diversion rates over time.
• Evaluate diversion outcomes across demographic groups.
• Analyze which offenses were being diverted.
• Measure progress toward policy goals using transparent, publicly available data.

Rather than relying on assumptions, Yolo County began using data to continuously evaluate and refine its diversion strategy.

The impact of this approach can be seen in stories like Li’s.

After surviving a traumatic shooting and struggling with post-traumatic stress, Li was charged with shoplifting. Instead of entering the traditional criminal justice process, she was referred to Yolo County’s Restorative Justice Partnership through the office’s diversion program.

She completed restorative justice programming, addressed the underlying causes of her behavior, and successfully resolved her case without receiving a criminal record. Today, she works for the very program that helped her, supporting others as they navigate similar challenges.

Impact

Yolo County demonstrates that effective diversion requires more than good policy, it requires reliable data.

By making diversion outcomes transparent and measurable through Commons, the District Attorney’s Office has created a framework for continuous improvement, accountability, and public trust. Leaders can track whether policies are achieving their intended goals, while community members gain visibility into how prosecutorial decisions affect outcomes.

The results speak for themselves. Between 2019 and 2022, Yolo County improved its diversion rate from 6% to 21%, an over 250% increase, by using data to inform policy decisions, monitor progress, and continuously improve its approach. That increase represents more than a performance metric, it represents hundreds of people who were given opportunities to address underlying challenges while avoiding unnecessary involvement in the traditional criminal justice system.

Li’s story brings those numbers to life. What could have become a permanent barrier instead became a second chance, one that ultimately enabled her to help others facing similar circumstances.

For Yolo County, data doesn’t simply measure diversion, it helps create better outcomes for individuals, strengthens accountability, and supports a more effective and equitable justice system.