NCJ Number
213216
Date Published
2004
Length
34 pages
Annotation
This kit provides suggestions and resources for youth courts to use in the Third Annual National Youth Court Month (September 2004), which provides youth courts an opportunity to share and celebrate their programs' successes, with a view toward improving and rewarding youth-court participation.
Abstract
The theme for the Third Annual National Youth Court Month is "Serving Communities--Changing Lives." This theme addresses two important aspects of youth court. First, youth court provides participating youth with a voice and role in addressing local problems. Second, youth court offers youth who have committed minor delinquent and status offenses or engaged in problem behaviors a timely and cost-effective alternative to traditional juvenile justice and school disciplinary systems. In youth courts, dispositions are determined by the respondents' peers and are tailored to respondents' needs. This "Action Kit" for the Third Annual National Youth Court Month includes topics for planning events and activities, suggestions for activities during the month, strategies for communicating more effectively with the media, and a listing of national youth court resources. The four general categories of suggested activities pertain to sharing the success of the youth court, recruiting and training new volunteers, serving the community, and honoring program volunteers and staff. A suggested activity for sharing the program's success is to present a mock hearing for key stakeholders and other community members, so they can observe how the youth court works, followed by a panel discussion that allows observers to ask questions of the youth volunteers who presented the mock hearing. A similar suggestion is offered as an activity for recruiting and training volunteers, in that it involves a mock hearing at local middle and high schools, followed by the opportunity for students to commit to becoming a volunteer juror for a youth court.