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Cass County Delinquency Plan Youth Court Priority Program: Youth Court Primary Risk Factors Addressed yEarly & Persistent Antisocial Behavior y Academic Failure in School yLack of Commitment to Schoot y Alienation and Rebelliousness yLow Neighborhood Attachment Protective Factors Enhanced yHealthy Beliefs and Ctear Standards yIndividual Characteristics yBonding ANALYSIS OF NEED/PROGAM DESCRIPTION: There is a need for an effective alternative to traditional Juvenile Court proceedings. Youth Court meets this need providing ajury of peers holding juvenile offenders accountable for their behavior by having sanctions placed on them. Youth between the ages of 13-18 serve as jurors, clerks, bailiffs, and prosecuting and defense attorneys. A local attorney serves as the Judge. Defendants are between the ages of 10 and 18 years of age. Offenders that complete the Youth Court disposition will not be adjudicated delinquent for the offense. Research shows that diversion programs similar to the Youth Court have lower rates of recidivism than traditional means of corrections, -- Program Operated By: Lutheran Sociat Services, Fargo ND 58] 02 -- Collaborations & Interagency Agreements: Juvenile Court, Local Attorneys Successes LSS conducts parent and participation evaluations and they are extremely positive, At this time the Juvenile Court does not have data on recidivism. A graduate student is preparing a thesis on youth court and its overall effectiveness during 2002, The East Central Judicial Court completes informal evaluations on the program on an ongoing basis to make certain that it remains an effective diversion tool. In 2001, youthful offenders completed their youth court requirements 96% of the time, There are countless cases where parents have shared with the coordinator that they felt the entire process ofY outh Court was not on educational but proved to be a great source of accountability for them as will. It also provided meaningful motivation for their child to make the life adjustments needed to change their behavior more positively for the future Similar stories are being documented from the parents of the youth volunteers, Challenges The biggest challenge in Youth Court is to have consistent youth volunteers. In 2002 there are 65 youth volunteers who serve in Youth Court. Approximately 20 show up each week to volunteer, Most volunteers lead busy lives and have numerous other school an work commitments that interfere with the volunteers consistently coming to Youth Court, Volunteers also serve for a limited lime and then moveon to other activities. They may also graduate which makes them ineligible as volunteers. Constant recruitment and retention efforts are in place to continue with training new recruits. Funding Issues -- Co-Payments: Youth Court does not charge a participation fee at this time -- Costs per client: 2001 $172 per clients -- Expansion requirements: ,5FTE added in October 2001. Page II