When a woman was caught shoplifting girls soccer cleats from a local Walmart, Connecticut prosecutors didn’t just simply add the first-time offender’s name to the criminal docket.

Instead, they took a closer, more personal look at the woman through the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice’s Early Screening and Intervention program, Waterbury Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Catherine Austin recalled in the recently published “To Prosecute,” a book that highlights innovative and progressive practices by prosecutors across the country.