2016-613-E Finance - Volunteers for Youth - Outside Agency Performance Agreement

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DocuSign Envelope ID: 3CD68914-055B-4274-9AF2-A50FD766FB76 t A - continued Provider's Outside Agency Application MAIN APPLICATION The teen court program is an alternative court program for young people who have committed minor offenses and are referred from law enforcement,juvenile services, or the schools. These first time offenders are tried and sentenced by a jury of their peers, with other teens playing the roles of defense attorney, prosecutor, and other court officials. Teen Court is run by young people and provides hands on opportunities for teens— both offenders and volunteers— to gain insight in the legal system while also learning from their mistakes and gaining valuable life skills along the way. Through positive peer pressure, participants learn to accept responsibility for their actions and then pay back their community through community service and other sentencing. d) Agency's Experience with Similar Programs as the Funding Requests Orange County is blessed with a network of youth resources with a longstanding tradition of working together to meet the needs of local children. Two excellent school systems, strong county agencies such as the Health Department and Department of Social Services, and a dynamic group of nonprofits come together in many ways every day to meet the needs of children and youth. In spite of these efforts, there is still much work to be done. Volunteers for Youth is part of the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council (JCPC), made up of youth-serving professionals in Orange County who assess local youth needs, evaluate youth programs, and make decisions about how money from the North Carolina Division of Juvenile Justice should be used to meet those needs. Our staff works closely with other JCPC agencies including Boomerang, Dispute Settlement Center, and Mental Health of America, as well as the court counselors from the Division of Juvenile Justice. Volunteers for Youth is also a part of the Family Success Alliance (FSA), an initiative spearheaded by the Orange County Health Department, which brings together agencies to work with families in two targeted high poverty zones in Orange County. As a member of FSA, Volunteers for Youth works with agencies such as Orange Literacy, Kidscope, and El Futuro as well as several local schools to coordinate services to families in these two zones. In coordination with the Buckley Public Service Scholars Program at the UNC Center for Public Service, Volunteers for Youth recruits, screens, trains, and supervises UNC students in the SMART program who serve as mentors to local kids while taking classes related to their mentoring experience. The SMART program is one component of our overall mentoring program. A network of community service worksites, including Hope Garden, Anathoth Garden, Camp Chestnut Ridge, and Boomerang, provide community service opportunities to the youth in our community service and teen court programs. Volunteers for Youth staff recruit volunteers at these local nonprofits who supervise court-ordered community service work of youth at their organization. Main Application 5/25/2016 10:34:40 AM P 5 of 25