Introducing Daniel Rios and the DIVERT Programme
My name is Daniel Rios, and I am the new DIVERT Custody Intervention Coach (CIC) at the AFC Wimbledon Foundation!
DIVERT is an award-winning Metropolitan Police Service custody intervention programme, delivered by the Bounce Back Project and funded by the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU). Its aims are to reduce reoffending in young adults aged between 18 and 25, directing them away from crime and towards a range of positive opportunities including education, training and employment.
The programme provides young adults being held in police custody with the opportunity to speak with CIC’s such as myself during their initial 24-hour detention, in what we like to describe as their most teachable moment. Based predominantly in South-West London, a significant part of my role is to listen, providing support and advice to young adults in what for many is a time of high anxiety, hopelessness and need. However, our working relationship with “clients” doesn’t just start and end in custody!
Participants can work closely with the CIC they meet during the course of any criminal investigations or proceedings, as well as when they are released back into the community, having follow-up consultations, making action plans and forging new paths for themselves.
Daniel Rios and the our Foundation team at the Street Soccer National Cup last month
The DIVERT programme operates in over a dozen police stations across South and North London, from Croydon all the way up to Wood Green and in between! Rapidly growing, the programme has helped just over 7000 young adults. Between April 1st 2023 and March 31st 2024, 1,506 young adults were introduced to DIVERT whilst in police custody and received Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) from CIC’s, with 282 going on to gain education, training and/or employment. Additionally, 987 young adults who were deemed existing, or ongoing cases, received support through DIVERT in the same timeframe. Since 2015, 109 young adults have returned to prison at a rate of 12%, well below the national average of 56%.
Firstly, I’d like to thank everyone at AFC Wimbledon for the warm welcome I received. Working for this club and its Foundation means a lot to me, considering I grew up in the area for a large part of my life. I not only spent my formative years going to school and sixth form in Wimbledon, but I also played youth football and forged a lot of the amazing friendships I still hold dearly in the area! A lot of my friends are supporters of the club and through them I became one as well. I know and feel what this club means to the people of Wimbledon, from the emotions of watching the first team play to the amazing work it does in the community.
From everything this local community has given to me throughout my life, it only feels right to give back in some capacity and I am proud to be able to now do that in my role, wearing the colours of this fantastic club.