Topic: Volunteers Who Break the Law

Question: How do youth courts deal with volunteers who have been charged with crimes? We are dealing with this issue in our program. I would like to avoid terminating this youth from the program - it seems against the purpose of our programs to kick volunteers out when youth/teen/peer courts are based on second chances and restorative justice for youthful offenders referred to the program.

The volunteer is in regular contact with me, and I have suspended him from all activities pending the disposition surrounding his case. He is interested in continuing with the program. Does anyone have creative, restorative options for this youth, and our program?

Responses from Coordinators:

Adelita Grijalva
Program Manager
Pima County Teen Court
Pima Prevention Partnership
330 North Commerce Park, #160
Tucson, AZ 85745
Phone: (520) 884-8799
Fax: (520) 884-8820
adelita_g@yahoo.com

We had a young lady that was an active volunteer; get into a situation where she had to be hospitalized for drinking. No charges were pressed but after talking with our teen attorney bar association, it was decided that she would have to participate in the mandatory workshops that would have been assigned to any other teen arrested for drinking and coming through Teen Court (Basic Training, Substance Abuse Prevention Workshop, Letter of apology to family and then to Teen Court participants and a jury duty- a total of 11 hours). We discussed the consequences with her and she opted to complete requirements and then re-join the attorneys. We feel that it is important to help all of our participants make better decisions and have an opportunity to learn from their mistakes. We would have chosen the same consequences if the young lady had been arrested. Additionally, we have since added completion of a substance abuse assessment if drugs are involved. Please contact me with any additional questions.

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Anne Dubinsky
Teen Court Coordinator
City of Lewisville Teen Court
P.O. Box 299002
Lewisville, TX 75029
Phone: (972) 219-3671
Fax: (972) 219-3414
adubinsk@cityoflewisville.com

We have, on occasion, dealt with this issue. Currently, we have a volunteer who was a former defendant that was recently in court again on a Class C misdemeanor (the lowest offense in Texas). She has volunteered as a juror for 2 years and she wants to continue coming to court. Our judge and myself have gotten to know her fairly well. She is young, only 14 years old. I have discussed this situation with our judge and agreed that we would rather her spend time in a useful environment such as Teen Court. We will be keeping a close watch on her. As far as I can tell, when she is on the jury, she takes her job seriously. It is a difficult line to draw sometimes and we hope we have made the right decision. The other very few instances we have had with this issue resulted in the volunteers dropping out of their own accord.

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Art Eberhart
Director
Niagara Falls Youth Court
Niagara Police Athletic League
4455 Porter Road
Niagara Falls, NY 14305
Phone: (716) 286-7038
Fax: (716) 286-7037
ArtE498043@aol.com

We have had a couple of occasions in Niagara Falls where Youth Court members committed transgressions, none of which amounted to a crime, and we allowed the court to determine their fate so to speak. One was a school suspension; one was a curfew violation while at the conference, in all instances the member had to apologize to the court members face to face. Obviously they were allowed to continue. If it were a crime situation we would treat it the same as a new offender. If it were a referable case we would go through the same procedures and sentencing. Upon completion of any sentence we would allow the member to resume as a part of the court. You are right about the purpose of the court and to not allow one of own to make amends would contradict that purpose. We encourage all offenders upon completion of their sentence to become Youth Court members. We have three or four; you forget that they were once miscreants, currently.

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Brenda Myers
Youth Court Coordinator
Project Chance Youth Court - W.A. Perry Middle School
South Carolina Department of Education
1429 Senate Street Room 706-D
Columbia, SC 29201
Phone: (803) 734-0737
Fax: (803) 734-0806
bmyers@sde.state.sc.us

You acted appropriate by suspending him. If he still wants to be a member of youth court, I say let him stay. Although, he would have to start at the bottom and work his way back up and I would send him back through training. He needs to realize the harm he caused and be accountable for it. Have you thought about having him apologize to his youth /peer/teen court members? I am not sure what his offense was, so it will be hard to really think of a restorative disposition. Just ask yourself how can he repair the harm he has done to your youth court reputation, his court members, his own reputation, and his community. By being a youth court members he has harmed a lot of relationships.

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Christine Borton
Teen Court Coordinator
Huntington Teen Court
c/o Youth Services Bureau
723 Warren Street
Huntington, IN 46750
Phone: (219) 356-9681
Fax: (219) 356-9683
ysbhc@mail.fwi.com

We have only had two volunteers commit an offense. However, what we did was remove them from any special duties, such as being an attorney and return them to the jury pool for a period of time. We also really stressed to them the impact they may of had with their peers (fellow volunteers). We agree that removing them from the program would not help us achieve our goal.

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Cory Fink
Juvenile Counselor II
Talbot County Teen Court
Department of Juvenile Justice
600 Dover Street, Ste. 104
Easton, MD 21601
Phone: (410) 822-5010
Fax: (410) 822-5550
finkc@djj.state.md.us

I had this same issue come up in my program last year, and just recently again involving underage possession of alcohol. I gave them the option of participating in Teen Court, they opted for the regular juvenile court/referral process. I suspended them from the program, and it happened to be that both of them were attorney's in the program. I made them start over in the program as jurors and kept them there for four months before they were allowed to "move up". They were not allowed to be attorney's again. But could participate as jurors, bailiffs, or clerks.

Generally, my kids receive service learning hours for graduation requirements, any hours that they have accumulated with me to that point for the school year are lost as part of the sanctions levied by the program. The kids have continued to stay with the program even in their limited roles. Consideration is given by my lead attorney's to allow them back into that role after a years probationary period.

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Darlene Rea
Coordinator
Christian/Taney Teen Court
38th Judicial Circuit
PO Box 482
Forsyth, MO 65653
Phone: (417) 546-3411
Fax: (417) 546-2110
Darlene_Rea@osca.state.mo.us

I handle this issue on a case-by-case basis.

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David Garcia
Coordinator
Teen Court of Lea County, Inc.
1923 N. Dal Paso Suite C
P.O. Box 831
Hobbs, NM 88240
Phone: (505) 393-7743
Fax: (505) 393-1076
david.r.garcia@worldnet.att.net

I thought we were a first offender program? Does this exclude our volunteers? I have had a couple of my volunteers with misdemeanor offenses that other defendants have come through Teen Court and these defendants have stayed with us because they liked what we do. I don't feel that we should penalize our volunteers if we allow a defendant to become part of our program. Tell me how many of our kids make mistakes; after all isn't our program the whole purpose of us being here? If we allow defendants to become participants in our Teen Courts why can't we give our volunteers a second chance? This is what has made my Teen Court successful and has had a great response throughout our community. Everyone deserves a second chance. I feel that you are on the right track and keep up the good work.

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David Medvec
Teen Court Coordinator
Orange County Teen Court
2000 East Michigan
Orlando, FL 32806
Phone: (407) 836-9517
Fax: (407) 836-7599
ctaddm1@ocnjcc.org

We allow them to come back after the case is closed. They are allowed one law violation.

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Deborah Williamson
DeborahW@MAIL.AOC.STATE.KY.US

My office would advise our judges to remove from direct service (at least for the academic year) as it goes against the philosophy of law-abiding peers exerting positive pressure on young defendants. It seems that having this defendant assist the coordinator with marshaling viable community options for the Court's use, e.g., seeking new community service sites or educational programs, or some other like task is possibly the best option to keep the young offender engaged. This should also send a message to Teen Court participants that you value them as law-abiding youth and that there are consequences when someone violates the law regardless of affiliation.

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Debra Linhart
Coordinator
Greater Jefferson Community Youth Peer Court
P. O. Box 911
Jefferson, OR 97352
Phone: (541) 327-1301
linhartfam@proaxis.com

Our youth court volunteers created a policy to address this very issue. They agreed that the individual should be given the opportunity to go through the program as an offender then be eligible to return as a volunteer once he/she has successfully completed sanctions. The volunteers also requested that one of the sanctions include an open court apology.

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Ellen Y. Suni
Director
Kansas City Youth Court
UMKC School of Law
5100 Rockhill Road
Kansas City, MO 64110-2499
Phone: (816) 235-2372
Fax: (816) 235-5276
sunie@umkc.edu

We have a policy on dealing with youth attorneys who violate the law (posted below), and we are currently dealing with a case for the first time. The quirk in this case is that Family Court adjudicated the case and allowed the young person to do community service without a real admission of guilt. Thus, it falls through the cracks of our rules (we chose not to adjudicate the case at Youth Court, where it would have come, due to conflict of interest). Our plan is to allow the attorney to return, but she must meet with me and my assistant directors and discuss with us how she will be able to serve effectively after her own experience and what from that experience she can bring to the program. I am also curious to see the effect of her return on our other attorneys.

Our policy is as follows:

Suspension or Disbarment Based on Delinquent Behavior:
A youth attorney who is charged with committing a criminal or delinquent act and who is referred to Youth Court or Family Court for adjudication shall be administratively suspended pending the outcome of the referral unless the Director determines that allowing the youth to remain as an attorney during this period is in the best interests of the KCYC. If the attorney is found to have committed a criminal or delinquent act (either as a result of adjudication or plea) by a Youth Court or Family Court, that attorney shall be administratively removed from the rolls of the KCYC. An attorney so removed may petition for reinstatement after completing all consequences imposed by the court. The petition for reinstatement shall be heard by the Steering Committee. The attorney seeking reinstatement shall have a right to appear before the Steering Committee. In deciding whether to reinstate an attorney, the Committee shall determine whether reinstatement is in the best interests of the Kansas City Youth Court. The burden of proof shall be on the attorney seeking reinstatement.

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Eric Watkins
Coordinator
Village of Owego Youth Court
Youth Services Unit
Owego Police Department
Owego, NY 13827
Phone: (607) 687-2233
Fax: (607) 687-2235
juvenile@stny.rr.com

We've encountered this situation couple of times with the Owego Youth Court. Our policy is to temporarily suspend the youth from participating in court proceedings until the situation is resolved--i.e.: the community service time is completed or the fines are paid. As Coordinator, I also make it my job to spend time with the youth processing the incident and the consequences. Since it is our policy to invite motivated youth court offenders to later become youth court members, I try not to permanently "disbar" members for infractions--but there will always be those extreme situations that may demand disbarment; so you may want to have it as an option.

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Erin Schellhardt
Youth Court Coordinator
Johnson County Youth Court
Johnson County Court Services
1255 East 119th Street
Olathe, KS 66061
Phone: (913) 324-6965
Fax: 913-782-3297
erin.schellhardt@jocoks.com

I have only had two volunteers who have been charged with crimes, but I agree that it doesn't seem appropriate to terminate them from the program, which I haven't done. In the past year, we have started allowing juveniles on probation/diversion to participate in our program on the jury for community service credit as long as they are appropriate. On two rare occasions, I have let a juvenile on diversion participate as an attorney/judge. My thought is that Youth Court is supposed to provide positive peer influence. Any youth placed on probation/diversion must complete community service, so I would rather have them involved in a worthwhile program with an educational component. If they aren't appropriate during the hearings, I just suspend them and they aren't allowed to return. It has worked well thus far.

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Frank Ribich
Program Director
Redmond Teen Court
c/o Redmond Juvenile Services Program
777 SW Deschutes
Redmond, OR 97756
Phone: (541) 504-3485
frankr@redmond.or.us

The Redmond Teen Court has dealt with that situation. We convened our youth court staff and had hearing with those peers. That youth had the opportunity to tell their story and share their perception of the charges. When the youth completed the conditions of the court, if any they were allowed to continue their service to the court.

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Ginny Espenshade
Coordinator
Kenai Peninsula Youth Court
355 Pioneer Avenue, #103
Homer, AK 99603
Phone: (907) 235-4985
Fax: (907)283-4017
youthct@xyz.net

KPYC in Kenai and Homer, Alaska has an ethics section of the student bar association. Volunteers charged with a crime are given a chance to be represented by a peer as the ethics committee decides what if any steps need to be taken in order for the youth to resume serving in our program. These may be in addition to the consequences received from the actual justice system, as they reflect the issues of program integrity, rehabilitation of our own workers and the importance of avoiding even the appearance of hypocrisy in our program. Paramount is the message that these youth deserve the same type of second chance as all our defendants. An example of outcomes would include an essay that focuses on the responsibility of youth volunteers and how this conduct violated that duty.

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Jennifer Strutz
Program Coordinator
Stayton Sublimity Youth Peer Court
362 N. Third Avenue
Stayton, OR 97383
Phone: (503) 769-5749
Fax: (503) 769-7573
Jastrutz@aol.com

We have had a couple of kids who have been cited while volunteers in the 5 years peer court has been up and running. We have the offender/volunteer follow regular court hearing procedures followed by a meeting w/the Youth Advisory Committee. The committee reviews the court hearing sanctions and then decides a time period for suspension as a volunteer, an action for the offender/volunteer to do specifically for Peer Court and they encourage the offender/volunteer to return after their dismissal and engage themselves w/Peer Court once again. This year we will incorporate peer mentor(s) with an offender/volunteer to support him/her at school and in decision-making.

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Julie Pawl
Director, Teen Court Programs
Warren Township Teen Court
31979 North Fish Lake Road
Round Lake, IL 60073
Phone: (847) 546-6450
Fax:  9847) 546-6760
jpawl@nicasa.org

We have come across that situation before too. Depending on the offense, we suspended the youth for a period of two months (our Teen Courts meet once a month) and have also required them to participate in our 3-hour class on decision making that we send offenders to (however, we do not send them to the same class an offender from their community might attend).

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Katie Self
Executive Director
Teen Court of Sarasota, Inc.
P.O. Box 48927
Sarasota, FL 34230
Phone: (941) 951-4278
Fax: (941) 951-4277
fatc@gte.net

I have only, in thirteen years, had two volunteers be charged with a criminal offense. Timing was great with one (his Dad was one of our main adult judges and he was mortified!). We were going up to Gainesville to establish a program so I took him up there with some of our teen attorneys to present a "mock" case, which in actuality was his case! It was great taking him out of this area, as none of the jurors knew him from his work with us. I did not tell the teen attorneys so they treated the case, as they would have any other! The 2nd offender was a traffic case and he was more than willing to accept the consequences.

I have only removed two teen attorneys from participating in all these years and it was for verbal abuse of defendants that they worked with. I would be hard pressed to not turn the incident into a positive, not just for the child, but for everyone!

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Leslie Comeaux
Teen Court Coordinator
Keller, Halton City, Watauga Teen Court
7101 Whitley Road
Watauga, TX 76148
Phone: (817) 514-5823
Fax: (817)281-1191
Lcomeaux47@hotmail.com

I think it depends on what type of offense. A speeding ticket? I handle that with a suspension. If the offense is more serious, then you need to consider what that says to the other teens in your program? I have had this situation before. One of my attorney volunteers received an alcohol ticket. As much as I liked this kid I had to let him go. You never want your program to look less than ethical and professional!!!

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Leticia Reyes-Valasquez
Director
Red Hook Youth Court
Red Hook Community Justice Center
88 Visitation Place
Brooklyn, NY 11231
Phone: (718) 923-8261
Fax: (718) 923-8221
lereyes@courts.state.ny.us

Well what better lessen than to have your volunteer be judged by his peers and accept responsibilities for is actions. Upon completion of his sanction(s) he might be eligible to return to serve as a member. I think as a minimum his participation in the program should be contingent upon his completion of whatever sanctions are issued. You could even have the youth that know him as a member discuss with the staff why he should or shouldn't be allowed to return, however, I think adult staff should make the final decision. It is extremely important that the members are held to the same standard as respondents are.  I have in the past required youth members to go through a hearing as a condition of their continued membership.

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Lou Giordano
Coordinator
West Seneca Youth Court
1250 Union Road
West Seneca, NY 14224-2950
Phone: (716) 674-2284
Fax: (716) 674-1063
hanover@wspolice.com

Our program is a little different from some so the way we handle this a little different. In order to become a member of our Youth Court you go through a selection process after you supply us with a resume as to what your qualifications are. If selected you are informed that you must abide by all the laws of New York State. If you violate any laws and are charged and convicted you are subject to a hearing with our Executive Board. After review the board will vote to either keep you or remove you. If you are not charged for some reason but your conduct is still viewed as possibly detrimental to the program you again receive a hearing and again the Executive Board will make a decision.

We find this procedure works for us. To date we have had to remove only one person this way. Our program has been up and running since 1984. We do not utilize any offenders as jury members or any anything else in our system so we can justify our decision based on the criteria above.

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Alison Bentley
Humboldt County Teen Court
Boys and Girls Club Teen Center
3015 J Street
Eureka, CA 95501
Phone: (707) 444-0153
Fax: (707) 444-0915
tcourt@northcoast.com

We have had two volunteers who have broken the law (low-level offenses) while volunteering for Humboldt County California's Teen Court program. Provided that they complete their sentence in a timely manner and do not re-offend, they are allowed to continue volunteering for Teen Court. Whether they go to Teen Court for their offense, is dependent on the Probation Department.

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Marcia Ricghels-Hill
Iowa County Teen Court
Iowa County Circuit Court
Courthouse
222 N. Iowa Street
Dodgeville, WI 53533
Phone: (608) 935-0387
Fax: (608) 935-0386
teen.court@mail.iowacounty.org

I have had two youth volunteers that were charged with crimes. One was criminal damage to property and after serious discussion he opted to allow the Teen Court to sentence him. He has since completed his sentence successfully. The other young man was not able to participate in Teen Court due to his age; he had turned 18 and was charged as an adult.

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Marian Irvin
Teen Court Coordinator
Flagler County Teen Court
c/o Clerk's Office
201 East Moody Blvd., Room 138
P.O. Box 787
Bunnell, FL 32110
Phone: (386) 437-7407
Fax: (386) 586-2116
mirvin@clerk.co.flagler.fl.us

I would not terminate the youth from the program and I have not in the past when faced with the same situation. We are a very small community with limited resources, but I have found some of our most dedicated youth are the ones the program has helped. This volunteer now sees it from both sided and in the future will really be able to relate. I've found they make some of the best prosecutors, realizing if I had not been afforded this opportunity where would I be.

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Marjorie Maniccia
Coordinator
Bethlehem Youth Court
261 Elm Avenue
Delmar, NY 12054
Phone: (518) 478-9544
Fax: (518 0 439-2144
BYC261@empireone.net

One option would be to have that youth go through the program as an offender, meaning he would have a sentencing hearing just like any other offender and once he completes his requirements he can continue with his member status.

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Marlene Todd
Lawrence County Teen Court
Director
P.O. Box 227
Deadwood, SD 57732
Phone: (605) 722-8889
Fax: (605) 722-8888
teencrt@mato.com

We have had the situation where a volunteer committed an offense while involved with Teen Court. The States Attorney referred the case to Teen Court, as they were first time offenders. The youth completed their sentences and then returned as active volunteers. We also work closely with our local Court Services and we have volunteers who are on active probation. The Court Services Officer meets with me and we discuss the situation and if I feel that this youth meets the criteria for our volunteers, we allow them to volunteer. Our Court Services Officers are pleased that they have the Teen Court option for volunteerism. I fully agree with you that you would not want to kick an individual out because they made a mistake. The concept of Teen Court is to provide a guiding hand to our young people and our volunteers that committed a crime while in Teen Court said it was twice as hard to come in front of their peers because they were a part of the program.

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Patrick Quilinan
Coordinator
Village of Lincolnshire Peer Jury
Lincolnshire Police Department
One Olde Half Day Road
Lincolnshire, IL 60069
Phone: (847) 883-9900
Fax: (847) 883-9909
Pquill@village.lincolnshire.il.us

Sorry you had one of your kids stumble. We had the same problem but we felt it best to terminate him from the program in order to maintain the integrity of the program. It was a tough decision but we based it on the fact that we tell candidates in the orientation that they will be terminated from the program for any criminal or serious traffic violations. We make it clear that they are held at a higher standard because of their position and that if they can not honestly hold this position that they should reconsider being part of the peer jury program.

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Mary Fleischmann
Program Coordinator
La Pine Teen Court
P.O. Box 2035
La Pine, OR 97739
Phone: (541) 536-5002
Fax: (541) 536-5766
Mary_Engstrom@co.deschutes.or.us

If this is a first offense, it is handled the same as any other teen court case.... if it is a 2nd offense, then the case is referred to our Juvenile Dept. Depending on the crime, the youth may still be eligible for diversion. I restrict the youth's participation until all contract agreements are completed...and then the youth must apologize to the court prior to his/her return to participate...this apology happens at the end of our regular scheduled court hearings, with only teen court members in attendance along with our judge.  On another note...I presently have added a new addition to my court. All members must sign an Ethics Promise, which advises them that the expectations for participation in court is not to engage in criminal acts.... that has greatly reduced any youth getting into trouble.

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Michele George
Coordinator
Teen Court of Huerfano County
401 Main Street, Suite304
Walsenburg, CO 81089
Phone: (719) 742-0240
Fax: (719) 738-1267
hcteencourt@yahoo.com

My program has had students get into trouble. I discipline the students by suspending their service until the disposition of their case, which is usually though teen court. I speak to the students and express my disappointment since they are held to a high standard.

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Milo Jackson
Teen Court Coordinator
Sioux Empire Teen Court
Sioux Council Boy Scouts of America
3200 West 49th Street
Sioux Falls, SD 57106
Phone: (605) 361-2697
Fax: (605) 361-2381
mijackso@bsamail.org

Is this a crime that your youth court is handling? I would suspend them until their sentence is complete if so. Our court will allow the defendants to become volunteers if they have met all of their sentence requirements. Let them have the opportunity to fix their mistake and move on.

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Myra Weeks
Coordinator
Wichita County Teen Court
Wichita County Courthouse
900 7th Street, Room 212
Wichita Falls, TX 76301-2482
Phone: (940) 715-8575
Fax: (940) 766-8177
Myra.Weeks@co.wichita.tx.us

Depending on the offense, if it is an offense that we would handle, the youth has the option of coming through court just as anyone else. The down side is we make sure a juror is not someone they have prosecuted or defended. It has worked quite well. Some kids are part-time volunteers due to sports or outside activities. In that case some have chosen to do jury duty, community service, etc, just as anyone else. If they were very active and visible in the past, they are assigned other courtroom duties instead of jury duty. Their community service has to be just anyone else would do. Once their case is completed, they return to Teen Court duties. If it is more serious, as long as charges are pending, they continue in court. If they are adjudicated, Teen Court activities are limited, depending on the charges. We do not terminate them from the court, actually we do the opposite. I try to keep them more involved in an effort to keep an eye on them.  It has been really useful to keep the involvement. The kids have had to admit their actions before peers on both sides of the courtroom. There are the usual questions and some kidding, but no hard feelings.

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Olivia Harrington
Teen Court Coordinator
Duncanville Teen Court
P.O. Box 380280
Duncanville, TX 75138-0280
Phone: (972) 780-5063
Fax: (972) 780-6463
Oharrington@ci.duncanville.tx.us

If an adult attorney gets a speeding ticket, he does not lose his bar license, so our attorneys have the opportunity to go through Teen Court. Obviously they cannot try cases when they have to do jury duty or the night they are on trial. Sometimes it is tough on them but they get the chance.

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Patti Donohue
Project Assistant
NYS Council Children and Families
Corning Tower, Ste. 2810
Albany, NY 12205
Phone: (518) 486-2253
Patti.Donohue@CCF.state.ny.us

I am a NIC Certified Restorative Justice Trainer from NY, who also sits on the Board of Directors for the Colonie Youth Court. I am passionate about restorative youth courts (it is my favorite area in which to train) and I wanted to suggest some ideas for a restorative resolution to this issue.

It would be most restorative if the volunteer offender "repaired the harm" he has caused to the other youth court members; the program itself, and his community. For instance, he could write a letter of apology to everyone; and/or he could himself suggest a creative community service project for him to do, which would both benefit the program AND provide some competency development for himself. It also would be great if the other volunteer members could do a "victim impact" meeting of sort-maybe even a "restorative group conference" process, so that everyone impacted by the offense could share their feelings and the group itself could create the resolution. This is a great opportunity for a restorative process and learning.

I strongly agree with the writer that the volunteer offender should NOT be terminated from the program-that would fly in the face of the philosophy of both youth courts and restorative justice. Rather, it is important that whatever the consequence, the volunteer offender be graciously re-integrated back into his original place within the program as part of the resolution. EVERY ONE of us makes mistakes. The key is to admit them; take pro-active measures to repair the harm and make amends; and move forward.

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Peggy Callihan
Coordinator
College Station Teen Court
PO Box 9960
College Station, TX 77842
Phone: (409) 764-3499
Fax: (409) 764-3894
pcalliham@ci.college-station.tx.us

My recommendation would be to allow him to stay on as a volunteer ONLY if he agrees to take his case before the Teen Jury that is if it is an eligible offense. If the offense is of a higher and criminal nature, I would drop him from the program as a volunteer.

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Rick Kallenborn
Coordinator
City of Elmira Youth Court
City of Elmira Police Dept.
Attn: Detective Bureau
317 E. Church Street
Elmira, NY 14901
Phone: (607) 737-5802
Fax: (607) 737-6514
rkallenborn@ci.elmira.ny.us

The city of Elmira Youth Court, Will take that vol. through Youth Court just not his/her team. If the person does well with their sentence they will be reinstated. If the crime was serious enough the individual would have to go through training again.

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Shonda Houston
Teen Court Coordinator
Volunteers for Youth Justice Teen Court
900 Jordan Street
Shreveport, LA 71101
Phone: (318) 425-4413
Fax: (318) 227-0208
ShondaH@shreve.net

I have had a couple of youth volunteers who had been charged with crimes actually go through Teen Court as defendants. They were expected to complete all requirements that other Teen Court defendants were required to complete. I think having them go through Teen Court gave them a greater appreciation for the program. Of course, they were suspended from participation in Teen Court until the completion of their sentences.

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Staci Moulton
Coordinator
Musselshell County Youth Peer Court
Musselshell County
431 Main Street
Roundup, MT 59072
Phone: (406) 323-2835
Fax: (406) 323-4000
ypc@midrivers.com

In my program I did have three volunteers who offended (Curfew violation, together). I suspended them from the program until they had been to court and finished their sentences successfully. Their punishment for "failure to live to a higher standard" was that in addition to their sentence given to them by the jury they were to develop a youth alcohol survey for me based on the guideline provided by OJJDP in the "Guide to Conducting Youth Surveys" booklet. It was a project that I had planed to do anyway and it gave these boys a chance to show me that they respected the purpose of the program. It also gave the boys a great since of pride when the survey results came in and they knew that what they had done for me was going to benefit the community as a whole. In short my kids know that they will have to answer to me for violating the standards that they have promised me they will live up to because their actions reflect not only on them but on the entire program we have all worked so hard to build.

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Veronica Rico
Coordinator
Elsinore Valley Youth Court
Riverside Sheriff-Lake Elsinore
333 Limited
Lake Elsinore, CA 92530
Phone: (909) 245-3332
Fax: (909) 245-3311
Vrico@rc-lawnet.org

I had a similar situation and I put the volunteer through the program.

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Wendy Leach
Executive Director
North Star Youth Court
800 Cushman Street
Fairbanks, AK 99654
Phone: (907) 457-6792
Fax: (907) 457-6791
nsyc@mosquitonet.com

The North Star Youth Court developed an ethics committee comprised of youth members of the student Bar Association. This committee is supervised by an on-staff legal advisor. The ethics committee handles complaints regarding volunteer duties as well as situations occurring outside of the organization (criminal behavior / status offense violations). Sanctions include community service, suspension of participation, and other requirements as deemed necessary by the committee. The decisions of the Ethics Committee may be appealed. For additional information regarding procedures within the NSYC Ethics Committee please contact John Hagey at (907) 457-6792.

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Will Smith
Executive Director
Dublin-Laurens County Teen Court
100 South Church Street
P.O. Box 4476
Dublin, GA 31040-4476
Phone: (478) 277-1404
Fax: (478) 277-1413
wtsmith@nlamerica.com

First of all I would like to say that you've taken the first step by suspending the youth from the program. Our program does the exact thing when our volunteers commit a crime. I usually suspend them until their sentence is up and they've shown that deserve a second chance. Once the youth returns, explain to that youth that he/she must lead by example and any other problems will result in an automatic dismissal from the program. Most volunteers usually conform to the rules and have even greater success while giving back.

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