WESTFIELD — Westfield, Hamilton County and Westfield Washington Schools officials today announced a program to prevent youths from getting in trouble with the law.

Westfield spokeswoman Carrie Cason said the program’s goal is to find at-risk youths before they make decisions that result in disciplinary measures and the court system.

“We want to get to youth before they cross over into the judiciary system,” Mayor Andy Cook said.

In an interview before the announcement at Monon Trail Elementary, Cook said the school district would refer at-risk students into the program, known as Westfield Youth Assistance. Details are still being fleshed out, but a Hamilton County court employee, Tricia Akers, will work with the youths, as will community mentors and business owners.

“She will evaluate what each child needs to have, and then we will draw on resources from throughout the city,” Cook said. “We will have a whole area of treatment that is custom designed to fit each child’s individual problems or interests.”

Youths could be steered toward programs such as Boy Scouts, he said, or work with business owners on interests such as cooking at a restaurant. He expects to find hundreds of volunteers to mentor youths, saying each volunteer would be screened.

Cook said the program has been in the making for a year and a half, and the city already has received eight referrals from the school district.

The mentoring piece to the program likely would start in January, Cook said, though Akers will begin working with youths almost immediately.