Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.

A diversion program touted as highly successful by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office is set to expand to cover even more low-level offenders this month.

The Project Reset program originally began as a pilot program in 2015 to divert 16- and 17-year-olds in northern Manhattan arrested for low-level offenses from being prosecuted. Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr.'s office found that participants in the two-session program resulted in recidivism rates as low as 8 percent.

In 2017, Vance announced the program would expand to include participants 18 years and older who were first-time offenders charged with nonviolent misdemeanors across the borough. The $6.5 million initiative, funded through banking violation asset forfeitures, would be run by the Center for Court Innovation, the Osborne Association and Young New Yorkers, with each organization responsible for different Manhattan communities. The program is expected to serve 5,000 people a year.