AG 1998 04 20 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

PROGRAM SUMMARY 3 Statement of the Problem: tn concise terminology, describe the juvenile justice problem the program intends to address. Duc to the wording of the General Statutes of North Carolina with regard to juveniles, many first-time, misdemeanant offenders are diverted from the traditional court system and often fail to follow through with referrals to community resources. Juvenile Services has little recourse to insure follow through. Provided that the proposed recommendations of the Governor's Commission on Juvenile Crime and Justice are enacted by the legislature, there appears to be an even stronger emphasis for Juvenile Services and the Division of Youth Services to deal more intensively with serious and/or violent youth and on using community resources to work with youth who have committed "less serious" offenses. Also, schools are experiencing increasing suspension/expulsion rates as they grapple with how to deal with increasing levels of conflicts in the schools that often result in violence. Program Goal: State the effect that the program is designed to have on solving the problem described above. The long-term goals are as follows with more specific short-term goals and objectives for obtaining those goals attached: · To protect the conununity. · To increase the capacity of the community's youth to become responsible and productive citizens. · To offer the community the option of Teen Court as an alternative to the traditional court system in order to affect positive changes in the attitudes and behaviors of the youth referred to the program. Target Population: Describe the target population and the steps that the program has taken to insure that the target population is served. The program will not deal with chronic, serious, or violent offenders. The target group will be youth who have committed certain misdemeanor offenses, or exhibited truant behavior, as a result, facing the possibility of being formally charged/petitioned. They must be enrolled in school, not involved in a long-term suspension or expulsion, admit responsibility for the offense, and accept the sentence imposed by a jury of their peers. Referrals will come from Juvenile Services, law-enforcement ( especially School Resource Officers ), and school personnel. A Coordinator will coordinate the activities/services of the program and will work with the Advisory Board to insure that a referral process is put in place that adequately targets this group of youth before negative behavior becomes chronic. Measurable Objective(s): State in measurable terms the intended effect of the program on specific undisciplined and/or delinquent behaviors. At a minimum, state anticipated reductions in court referrals, runaway behavior, and school suspensions and expulsions. · See the attached information which was recently submitted to the Administrative Office of the Courts with an application for a legislative Teen Court appropriation. Information Maintained for Effectiveness Measurement: Lisl the data elements and records the program will maintain to document its effectiveness. The Coordinator will maintain participant files to include: program referral forms, intake assessment forms, release forms, liability waivers with regard to community service performed, sentencing dispositions, documentation of sentence compliance monitoring by the Coordinator, referrals to other community services and any progress made in the juvenile's behavior, copies of pre-program and post-program participation questionnaires to ascertain the effectiveness of Teen Court and Resolve for all participants, including youth volunteers, confirmation information to referring sources of program compliance/non-compliance, case termination documentation, documentation from referring sources and the juveniles' families of post-program behaviors at home and at school and to gather their input as to program effectiveness.