Agenda - 12-16-1997 - 10e - Laserfiche WebLink

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Report oil the Teen Court Pro-27 Lrterview Results We conducted interviews with the following people associated with the Cumberland County Teen Court program to solicit their ideas about and views of the program: Joy Downing and Joan Blanchard, intake counselors who refer cases to Teen Court; Sergeant Ronald Snyder, with the Youth Services Division of the Fayetteville Police Department, who also makes many referrals to Teen Court; Peggy Marchant, Community Resource Officer at Reid Ross Junior High in Fayetteville, who makes referrals to Teen Court and who has the opportunity to interact with students in school and community settings following the students' participation in Teen Court; Pamela Sherman, Teen Court Administrator of the Cumberland County Teen Court program; and Chief District Court Judge Elizabeth Keever and District j Court Judge Andrew Dempster, both of the 12th District, who are familiar with the program i and who, at times, make referrals to the program for youth appearing before them. In particular, we asked these people about what they believe the advantages or disadvantages of the program to be, many of which may not be amenable to direct measurement. Two central themes emerged from these interviews. i Availability as a Community Resource. All of the respondents stress the importance of having the teen court alternative available as a community resource to ensure that juveniles are processed in a manner that demonstrates to them that there are consequences to their misbehavior. Ms. Sherman and Ms. Marchant, in particular, suggest that there is substantial interest and support of the program in both the criminal justice community and the community at large. They, as well as Sergeant Snyder, also stress the fact that the teen court process requires the involvement of parents, who tend to become enthusiastic about the process, and are able to contribute in a constructive manner to the juvenile's successful completion, by overseeing their progress. In fact, Judge Keever cites as one advantage of the program that this process better ensures that it is the ' venile, rather than the parent, who bears the consequences of the juvenile's misbehavior (e.g., the ultimate result of juvenile court processing may be that the parent "pays" for the misbehavior through fines and costs i imposed). I The intake counselors, Ms. Sherman, and Sergeant Snyder feel that in many cases juveniles participating in Teen Court would otherwise have no formal court action .taken (i.e., they would be diverted and experience virtually no ramifications for their offense), and that this community resource provides a substantial, positive alternative to "doing nothing." The intake counselors point out that diversion is the outcome of nearly all first-offense concealment/shoplifting cases. Judge Dempster stresses that the juvenile court system has seen substantial increases in violent, felony-level crime committed by juveniles, and the appropriate handling of these cases requires significant juvenile court resources. Unfortunately, this can lead to lower-level or "petty" crime by juveniles not receiving the attention that it deserves. Judge Dempster believes that while juvenile court resources may be directed toward more serious crime, the availability of the Teen Court option ensures that juveniles committing minor offenses are handled in a manner that "stops them in their tracks" and requires them to take the offense seriously. As Sergeant Snyder suggests, juveniles may be referred to law