Topic: Educational Workshops

Question: See below for a question re: the types of educational workshops you offer as sentencing options for respondents. We have provided her information on the publication Street Law for Youth Courts: Educational Workshops as a resource for developing educational workshops for respondents. Please provide any additional information you think may be helpful for her.

I hope everyone has had a lovely holiday. I have a question for other peer courts: Do you have an element of your sentencing procedures that includes a workshop for defendants? We have had a "self esteem workshop" for several years and are looking for some new avenues for this element of the process. Thank you.
 

Responses from Coordinators:

Shasta County Youth/Peer Court
Candice Asnicar
Youth Violence Prevention Council of Shasta County
1700 Pine Street, Suite 250
Redding, CA 96001
530-244-7194
Fax: 530-244-6224
cmenoher@shastalink.k12.ca.us
yvpc@sbcglobal.net

The Youth Violence Prevention Council runs the Shasta County Youth Peer Court.  Classes we offer are provided either through Shasta County Probation or the Shasta County Chemical People.  These classes include:  Victim Awareness, Parent to Parent, Drug and Alcohol Youth Education, Life Skills for Teenage Boys and a separate class for Teenage girls,, STOP (Substance and Alcohol Teen Outpatient Program), Individual and family counseling, Refusal skills, Peer and Adult Mentoring, Anger Management....and we are in the process of purchasing a curriculum on petty theft that respondent does at home.

As for specific workshops, we co-sponsored a pre-high school workshop for incoming 8th graders who had been identified as being at risk of not succeeding in high school.  This workshop focused on study skills, scheduling, campus tours, introductions to their counselors, matching with a "campus buddy" that will greet them at school, help with personal issues, etc.  We are planning for the first of February and get together of these same students to see how they are doing and make sure they are doing OK.  Please advise if you need any further information.

Back to top

Johnson County Youth Court
Courtney Barden
Youth Court Supervisor
Johnson County Court Services
1255 East 119th Street
Olathe, KS 66061
913-324-6932
courtney.barden@jocogov.org

We currently offer several different workshops for our defendants.  We use the Street Law curriculum as a mandatory element of the sentence for each respondent (each person must attend 2 sessions of this class).  Additionally, we offer a Conflict Resolution course, a Victims Awareness Course and a class called Accountability, Responsibility and Choice that is based on the "Character Counts" curriculum.  Additionally, because we operate out of a probation office, several of the classes that are offered for probation clients are also offered to our Youth Court participants, such as a Shoplifting Awareness class, etc.

Back to top

Green River Teen Court
Peggy Beckum
Municipal Judge
City of Green River
50 East Second Street North
Green River, WY 82935
307-872-6116
Fax: 307-872-0567
pbeckum@cityofgreenriver.org

We have a CHOICES workshop. They discuss the choices they make in life and the consequences of those choices.  One of the counselors from one of  the local counseling agencies conducts the workshop free of charge.

Back to top

Asheboro/Randolph Teen Court Program
Cheryl Benford
Coordinator
Randolph County Government
1520 North Fayetteville Street
Asheboro, NC 27203
336-683-8227
Fax: 336-683-8217
clbenford@co.randolph.nc.us
www.randolphteencourt.org

Our Teen Court provides a mandatory Decision Making Class.  We also have optional sanctions of Drug and Alcohol Assessment/Evaluation with a Substance Abuse Counselor, an Earn It Seminar for Larceny and other stealing related incidents, and an Anger Management Class. 

Back to top

Lansing Teen Court
Michael Botke
Director
217 South Capitol Avenue - 230
Lansing, MI 48933
517-371-2823
Fax: 517-371-2836
teencourtlansing@cooley.edu
www.cacvoices.org

Lansing Teen Court requires all respondents to attend Street Law Workshops when they begin their accountability activities in our program.  Peer Jurors reinforce this measure during their hearing and must continue to attend bi-weekly workshops until we formally dismiss their offense when they complete disposition orders issued from their Peer Jury.  Our workshops are bi-weekly on Saturday mornings held inside our office building, which is located at Thomas M. Cooley Law School.  We have used the Street Law format since 2002 and have modified the content of the workshops to meet our needs.  Because of the number of participants we are working with, we have broken them down into two groups, those that are waiting for their hearing and those that have completed their hearing step, which means we conduct these workshops every Saturday morning. 

Back to top

Pennington County Teen Court
Michele Brink-Gluhosky
Teen Court Coordinator
Pennington County State's Attorney's Office
300 Kansas City Street
Rapid City, SD 57701
605-394-2531
Fax: 605-394-2616
michellebg@co.pennington.sd.us

We have a Property Offense Class for theft charges, Alcohol and Other Drug charges go to Substance Abuse Education Class.  Other options for juries are a MADD Victim Impact Panel and a Stop and Think Class - which uses a lot of ropes or adventure based activities and the focus is making choices.

Back to top

College Station Teen Court
Peggy Calliham
Coordinator
City of College Station
PO Box 9960
College Station, TX 77840
979-764-3499
Fax: 979-764-3894
pcalliham@cstx.gov
www.cstx.gov/home/index.asp?page=1445

We have a class called Decision Making for First Time Offenders.   It is a whole day long and involves goals, values, peer pressure, personality and attitudes, and many other topics that appear to help our kids develop some better decision making skills.  

Back to top

Peer Jury Program
Terry Cannarsa
Peer Jury Coordinator
Blair County Juvenile Probation Office
423 Allegheny St., Suite 424
Hollidaysburg, PA 16648
814-693-3230
Fax: 814-695-0260
tcannarsa@blairco.org

We have a few classes not only for Peer but also kids on Probation.

Victim/Witness
Crime and Consequences        
Triggers        
Lifeskills

Back to top

Saratoga County Youth Court
Lisa Chamberlain
Youth Court Director
36 Phila Street
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
518-581-1230 ext. 20
Fax: 518-581-1240
LisaYC24@hotmail.com

We have a few classes that are an option for the kids to use in sentencing. We have a Anger Managment workshop, a risk and responsibility class, conflict resolution and classes about drugs and alcohol.

Any questions please feel free to contact me. Lisa Chamberlain, Saratoga County, NY Youth Court Director Lisayc24@hotmail.com

Back to top

Pender County Teen Court
Becky Copenhaver
Teen Court Coordinator
Community Mediation Center of Cape Fear, Inc.
140-A Cinema Drive
Wilmington, NC 28403
910-362-8000
Fax: 910-362-8008
becky@wemediate.net
www.wemediate.net

In answer to the question, yes...we do suggest workshops for the defendants.  However, the options we suggest are merely that...suggestions.  The options in our community come with a cost.  Parents must agree to "foot the bill" when this sanction is given.  Here are two we have used with good success:

1.    Anger Management Workshops (held through a private agency)

2.    Defensive Driving School (We recently had two 14 year olds who drove a parent's car to school, so we worked with the driving school to provide a    service to these students at a lower cost since they are merely "auditing" the course as unlicensed drivers.  The school is very excited about providing this option to our defendants.)

Back to top

Lewisville/Flower Mound Teen Court
Anne Dubinsky
Teen Court Coordinator
City of Lewisville
P.O. Box 299002
Lewisville, TX 75029
972-219-3671 ext.
Fax: 972-219-3708
adubinsk@cityoflewisville.com

About once very 3 months we hold a session where several young men incarcerated at a nearby halfway house for drug/alcohol offenses come and tell their stories.  Most of these young men got into trouble as teenagers. We offer this to defendants currently going through our court.   We give double credit hours if the parent comes with their teenager.  Ninety-nine percent of the time the parent attends and the feedback is always positive. We generally have anywhere from 30 to 40 parents/teens in attendance and there is no cost to anyone.

Back to top

Anjanette Eash
Youth Court Coordinator
Tennessee Youth Court Program
Tennessee Bar Association
221 4th Ave. North, Suite. 400
Nashville, TN 37219
800-899-6993 ext. 233
Fax: 615-383-7504
a_eash@tnbar.org

Regarding the workshop information request, teen courts in Tennessee 'piggyback' on the classes available to the local juvenile court. One option that some use is a program called "Better Choices" that is not a self-esteem class as much as it is a series of classes on making better choices (as the name would imply). I am not affiliated with Better Choices, but should you want to learn more, their phone number is 615-424-9128.

Back to top

Crawford County Teen Court
Sandy Emerson
Program Coordinator
Restorative Justice Authority
665 S. 69 Hwy
Pittsburg, KS 66762
620-235-7118 ext. 108
Fax: 620-235-7107
semerson@rjauthority.org

We just recently purchased some items from Boys Town for character building.  It's the Wisdom for Life curriculum.  Videos are also available with the series, but they have to be purchased separately.  We also bought another character building curriculum called "Good Ideas...to Help Young People Develop Good Character" these are taught in addition to our Street Law classes.  I really like this curriculum because we touch on issues like racial diversity, integrity and how sometimes that involves making our own decisions and not going along with the crowd, which goes into discussion and video about the Holocaust, etc.  Boys Town has a website and they have tons of material to use in addition to the Street Law. 

Back to top

Bonner County Youth Court
Amy Flint
Youth Court Coordinator
215 South 1st Avenue
Sandpoint, ID 83864
208-255-2165
Fax: 208-255-2188
amyflint@sandpoint.net

Placer County Peer Court
Karen Green
Peer Court Coordinator
671 Newcastle Road., Suite 7
Newcastle, CA 95658
916-663-9227 ext. 2#
Fax: 916-663-2965
placerpeercourt@aol.com
www.peercourt.com

We offer a variety of workshops on theft, drugs, truancy, anger management, parenting, etc. All are referrals. We do no in house classes.

Back to top

Ontario County Youth Court
Debbie Holland
Program Coordinator
Partnership for Ontario County
3010 County Complex Drive
Canandaigua, NY 14424
585-396-4519
Fax: 585-396-8821
deb.holland@co.ontario.ny.us
www.partnershipoc.org

Street Law is a great resource and we use the "Shoplifting" lessons often and involve a community resource person or two.  We also seek funding through our Youth Bureau and United Way to provide some sentencing options--Self-Awareness Training, Family Communication Skills and Teen Anger Management.  We contract with a counseling group to provide these, and we also take advantage of their 8-10 group.  National Council on Alcoholism provides Substance Abuse Education.   

Back to top

Anchorage Youth Court
Sharon Leon
Executive Director
PO Box 102735
Anchorage, AK 99510
907-274-5986 ext.
Fax: 907-272-0491
ayc.sal@acsalaska.net
www.ayc.ak.org

Anchorage Youth Court judges sentence defendants to the following workshops/ panels:

Anti theft program
Anger management
Victim impact
Weapons
Parent adolescent mediation
Fire Stoppers  

We have tried to work with the Boys and Girls Club Smart Moves program, but that option hasn't worked out.

Back to top

Wauconda Township Teen Court
Elizabeth McGonigal
Director, Early Intervention Services
NICASA
31979 North Fish Lake Road
Round Lake, IL 60073
847-546-6450
Fax: 847-546-6760
emcgonigal@nicasa.org

All of our offenders receive a 3-hour skill-building class that includes exercises to improve decision making and problem solving, along with substance abuse education.  We incorporate some handouts/exercises from the Street Law program, which usually get a good response from the offenders.  Additional sentencing options include a 2-hour Anger Management class, 8-hour skill-building class (that expands on the topics covered in the 3-hour class), or a 2-hour Girls Risk Reduction class. This class discusses high-risk situations that girls often find themselves in, and presents healthier alternatives to these.  If you would be interested in receiving some of the handouts and an outline of the curriculum for any of these classes, please contact me at emcgonigal@nicasa.org.

Back to top

Hedwig Village Teen Court
Lisa Reed
Program Coordinator
955 Piney Point Road
Houston, TX 77024
713-465-6009 ext.
Fax: 713-465-6807
hedwigteencourt@yahoo.com

We offer educational workshops at this point in time. Several programs were developed by the Young Lawyers in our state.  One is "Crossing the Line" which we pair a young lawyer and a law enforcement officer that discuss juvenile law, penalty groups, myths and urban legends.  Another is "We the Jury" where justices discuss the history and evolution of the jury process and the role of the jury and the judges in the process.  New this year we are providing an alcohol awareness program with the help of a chief prosecutor and a defendant in an alcohol related driving incident. Hopefully, to bring home the legal and practical consequences of alcohol and driving.

Back to top

Red Hook Youth Court
Amy Roza
Coordinator
Red Hook Community Justice Center
88 Visitation Place
Brooklyn, NY 11231
718-923-8261
Fax: 718-923-8221
amyroza@courts.state.ny.us

We partner with local agencies to lead our workshops. We offer a conflict resolution workshop through Safe Horizons, a goal setting workshop led by an on-site social worker, and a decision making workshop that includes information on drugs, relationships, etc led by a youth worker from a substance abuse prevention and treatment agency. We are developing a workshop focused on teens/ police interactions and relations. In the past we have also led some of these workshops.

Back to top

LaCrosse County Peer Court
Bobbie Tippery
Peer Court Coordinator
Boys & Girls Club of Greater LaCrosse
1331 Clinton St.
LaCrosse, WI 54603
608-784-3345
Fax: 608-782-3933
Bee85_@hotmail.com

Our PC mandates a 'Choices and Consequences' Class, with curriculum from Court TV. It helps teach kids about how unseen/unwanted consequences can come from any action, especially deviant ones.  It also tries to get them to think before they act. We used to have a self-esteem class also, but we changed it into the above class several years ago. I hope this helps.

Back to top

Lawrence County Teen Court
Marlene Todd
Director
P.O. Box 227
68 Sherman Street, Suite 213
Deadwood, SD 57732
605-722-8889
Fax: 605-722-8888
teencrt@mato.com
www.southdakotateencourt.org

We have three classes that we provide as sentencing alternatives for our youth.  They are:  "The Law and You" - facilitated by a prosecuting attorney, defense attorney and two law enforcement officers; "The Buck Stops Here" - a class on setting goals and how your behavior today reflects on that, we administer the Matrix color charting and talk about values, behaviors, etc. and then our last class is "Choices" and this class is totally facilitated by individuals who have either committed a crime or the victim of a crime.  Hope this helps.

Back to top

Amherst Youth Court
Michael Torrillo
Coordinator
Amherst Police Department
500 John James  Audobon Parkway
Amherst, NY 14228
716-689-1344
Fax: 716-568-1182
mtorrillo@adelphia.net 

Our County (Erie) is in the process of collecting data for those reasons right now. They have developed the software and are collecting data from the law enforcement agencies in the county. Once that is completed they will begin working on Family Court and Probation. The last piece will be Child Protection. Once all the data is compiled we will have a complete background of the respondent and what steps were taken to deal with the issues.

Back to top

Wichita County Teen Court
Myra Ann Weeks
Coordinator
900 Seventh Street, Room 212
Wichita Falls, TX 76301
940-716-8575
Fax: 940-716-8598
Myra.Weeks@co.wichita.tx.us

We got this one from another court so we can’t claim the idea.  We work with our local battered women’s shelter. They come in once a month before jury duty and do a presentation/group discussion for one hour and we give 2 hours credit towards community service.  We are also working with the local National Guard recruiter to come in. They have several options for youth while still in high school so the kids talk to him getting options.

Back to top

Willcox Youth Court
Sally White
Coordinator
Willcox Against Substance Abuse
City Magistrate Court
480 North Bisbee Avenue
Willcox, AZ 85643
520-384-4777
Fax: 520-384-1141
wasa@qwest.net
http://www.wasaonline.us

The Willcox Youth Court is a partner in a Safe & Drug Free Communities grant which allows us some capital to purchase services.  We have included Lifeskills workshops as a sentencing option for the past several years.  The areas we cover include: anger management, decision making, self control, communication skills and sexual harassment sensitivity. Workshops last from 2 to 4 hours and are led by a licensed counselor.  Our court is set up in such a way that these workshops may be used as a requirement prior to attending youth court (in the same way we require a traffic safety class for all moving traffic offenses), or are available as sentencing options for the jury.  We do not have regularly scheduled workshops, but hold them whenever we have 3 or more defendants scheduled for a particular workshop.  IF we should not get more than one defendant assigned to a particular workshop after a reasonable period of time (usually one month), we will set that defendant up for a private counseling session that focuses on the identified area, but we prefer to use the workshops. We also have a six session "Straight Edge" workshop that is a sentencing option for defendants where drugs are involved; it is run through our local Behavioral Health entity.

Back to top

Brown County Teen Court
Mary Ann Wonn
Teen Court Coordinator
Brown County Probation Department
1 South State
P.O. Box 248
New Ulm, MN 56073
507-233-6620 ext.
Fax: 507-233-6649
maryann.wonn@co.brown.mn.us  

We sentence our offenders to classes or workshops depending upon the crime.  Our CAP 1 class (Chemical Awareness Program) is for first-time offenders with alcohol or drugs.  If we feel they have a more serious problem with alcohol, we will also send the youth to an Impact Panel or to have a chemical assessment done.  Some offenders are sent to a COGS class to help them learn to think before they act. Our county has many classes to offer, but the ones mentioned above are the ones that are recommended the most.  Hope that is what you are looking for!

Back to top