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Youth Court FAQ's
What is a Youth Court?
Youth
courts (also called teen, peer, and student courts) are
programs in which youth sentence their peers for minor
delinquent and status offenses and other problem
behaviors. Youth courts can be administered by and
operated within a variety of agencies within a community
including law enforcement agencies, juvenile probation
departments, juvenile courts, private nonprofit
agencies, and schools.
What supporting information can I provide to local stakeholders and funding organizations to show the benefits of youth court?
www.youthcourt.net is full of information that will help you show the benefits of youth court to local stakeholders and we hope the following links will be of assistance.
Is there a PowerPoint presentation that I could use as a general overview of youth courts from a national perspective?
Yes. You can download
this PowerPoint presentation and use it to provide a general overview of youth courts from a national perspective. You can adapt the slides to meet your needs. The presentation has been created as black and white slides so that it will be easy for you to have copied onto transparencies. If you want, you can apply a design template to the presentation in PowerPoint to make the slides in color.
Note: To edit the file you will first need to save the file to your hard drive and right-click and "save target as…”
Are all youth courts the same?
No, all youth courts are not the same. All youth courts do follow the same main purpose – youth sentencing their peers. However, how youth courts operate and the types of services they offer vary considerably across the country. For example, there are different
program models (i.e., the structure of youth court hearings) that youth courts can follow. Youth courts also differ in the type of cases they will handle, the age of youth they will accept as defendants and volunteers, how many times they hold youth court hearings a month, the number of cases they handle a year, the amount and type of training that youth volunteers receive, the sentencing guidelines they follow, etc. Youth courts even vary by name and might be called teen court, peer court, or school court. The
National
Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
provides many
publications and resources that contain general information about youth courts and how they
operate.
What is “restorative justice” and why should youth courts be interested?
An alternative philosophy to the traditional justice system, restorative justice addresses crime and problem behavior by recognizing that crime harms victims and communities. Restorative justice focuses on repairing harm (and restoring broken relationships) caused by crime through active involvement of the offender, victim, and the community.
Some of the benefits that youth courts can derive from incorporating practices based on restorative justice principles include more effective services for respondents (i.e., defendants), victims, and the community; better respondent accountability; increased skill and competency development for respondents; improved relationships among respondents and their families, friends, victims, and community; and more meaningful community involvement in solving local problems.
For additional information on the role of restorative justice in youth courts, see the following publications:
For more information on restorative justice see the following websites:
Where can I find funding for my youth court?
Fund-raising for youth court presents its own unique challenges, and maintaining adequate funding for many youth courts is a constant battle. The reality is that there is no magical source of funding for youth courts. Youth courts must compete against other deserving organizations for funding from federal and state grants, organizational budgets, private individuals, and institutions – many of whose funds are now limited and dwindling. Not only is it necessary to compete for funding, but it is also a matter of determining where to apply for funding and spend your limited time writing a grant that that will result in awarded funds.
The
National
Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges regularly
updates the Federal Youth Court Program website to provide current information on
funding ideas and grant writing tips,
articles, books and
publications, and
a list of current grants opportunities.
Are youth courts effective?
Youth courts are one of the fastest growing intervention and prevention programs in the United States. However, because youth courts vary in their case handling procedures, courtroom models, and their range of sanctions, limited research has been conducted on their effectiveness. In 1998 the Urban Institute began the Evaluation of Teen Court Project, the first national study of teen courts funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.
In 2002, The Urban Institute published
The Impact of Teen Court on Young
Offenders, and Teen Courts: A Focus on Research based upon the results of their multiyear study. The findings of the study suggest that teen courts may be a positive alternative to the traditional juvenile justice system.
How many youth courts are in the U.S., and when was the first youth court implemented?
According to the National Youth Court Database, in 1994 there were only 78 youth court programs in operation; as of
October 2006, there are over 1127 youth court programs in operation in 49 states and the District of Columbia.
Conflicting accounts in the literature create challenges to tracing the exact beginning of youth court programs. One of the earliest known programs still in operation is the Naperville Youth Jury in Naperville, Illinois. Naperville’s program started in June of 1972. There are also anecdotal reports of a youth court that began operating in Horseheads, NY in 1968. Visit
National Facts and Stats for more information.
How can I find out if there is a youth court near me?
Go to the National Listing of Youth Courts on this website. Just click on your state and find the youth courts that are close to you. If you don’t find a youth court listed in your community and you are interested in starting one,
email us to receive an information packet.
How
can I ask questions and receive answers
about youth court issues from other youth court
coordinators?
Signup to be on the
Youth
Court Coordinator Email Group, where you can ask other
coordinators
questions related
to youth court.
The responses received are then compiled and sent out to the
entire group. These responses are also available
online on the website on
this page.
To sign up for the Youth Court
Coordinator Email Group,
click here.
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