During his tenure as a judge in the Village of West Haverstraw, District Attorney Thomas Zugibe created and implemented a cutting-edge program designed to maximize the number of at-risk students who chose to successfully complete their studies. By partnering with the North Rockland Central School District, then Judge Zugibe linked the adjudication of juvenile offenses to improved school performance and conduct, seeking to divert youthful offenders from the criminal justice system.

During his first year as District Attorney, Thomas Zugibe expanded the successful High School Intervention and Diversion Program (IDP) to include courts in the Village of Haverstraw, the Town of Haverstraw and Stony Point. In 2010, the Zugibe Administration plans to expand IDP to courts across Rockland County.

The goal of IDP is to facilitate the successful completion of high school by those students who are facing personal, behavioral and legal problems. Moreover, IDP seeks to engage school administrators in the official supervision of those students who are under the jurisdiction of the Criminal Justice System and who have demonstrated an unwillingness to comply with school rules and regulations.

By expanding the High School Intervention and Diversion Program to each courtroom in Rockland, law enforcement, judges and educators will be able to supervise participating students regarding judicially imposed conditions with uniformity throughout the county.