BELOW ARE JUST SOME OF THE MANY
ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF YOUTH COURT IN 2007
  • Expanded Youth Court to Ward One. One evening a week cases of youth that reside in Ward One are heard at the 3D station. Youth sanctioned to community service perform those hours from the 3D station and is supervised by an officer associated with the Youth Division whose focus is on youth crime. Youth work to clean up the community on Saturday mornings and are also offered tutoring by Howard University students.
  • 35 youth participated in the Walk for the Homeless, heard a presentation from two previously homeless citizens, and prepared sandwiches to be distributed at a homeless shelter.
  • Christmas baskets were prepared by community service participants and distributed to 2 needy families.
  • 3 staff members presented a workshop on Youth Court at the Annual Time Banks Conference in Madison, Wisconsin.
  • 2 staff members participated in the National Youth Court Conference held in New Orleans, Louisiana, and gathered information regarding girls and gangs for later usage in our program.
  • 62 youth are participating as volunteer jurors -- the largest number of volunteers that we have ever had.
  • On December 17th, 108 youth participated in the jury duty program at 500 Indiana Avenue. This is the largest number of youth we have ever had participating in Youth Court on a Saturday.
  • 7 youth participated in a discussion on youth court and social justice that will culminate in an article in the February 2008 issue of COLORS Magazine.
  • Helped implement a Time Dollar Youth Court in Madison, Wisconsin that is presently in operation and hearing cases weekly.
  • Consulted with Chester County, Pennsylvania officials regarding the implementation of a Time Dollar Youth Court in Chester County, Pennsylvania.
  • The hiring of a Manager of Life Skills to expand the life skills component and give more youth the opportunity to gain needed skills.
  • In December all youth and family members of Youth Court were invited for a day of roller skating on a Saturday afternoon, this opportunity gave youth and family members from various neighborhoods to come together and socialize and form new bonds and relationships.
  • 15 youth received incentives for good grades during the first marking period.
  • 13 youth participated in the Pathways to Happiness (A prison based evidence curriculum aimed at teaching self control).
  • 639 jurors received jury training for the year.
  • 162 respondents were sentenced to Community Service and gave $13,248 worth of Time Dollars back to the community.
  • Mass Transit Police continues its commitment of having two transit officers assist in the Saturday Youth Court proceedings.
  • 25 placement sites for community service.
  • APRA- STEP UP collaborated with APRA to receive funds to sponsor a Saturday workshop on Under Age Drinking, 75 youth participated in skits and a presentation by the Fire Department Rescue 1 on underage drinking. The “jaws of life” and other life saving equipment were demonstrated to the youth on how lives are saved. Youth were also given an opportunity to view the fire truck.
  • Families received referrals for additional support services for their youth (counseling, mentoring, tutoring, educational advocacy, etc.)
  • Staff Development & Training – additional ACCESS DATABASE training provided to three more staff members, training in office skills and EXCEL was also provided to staff members. Staff training ensures our ability to maintain accurate records and properly track and monitor youth performance in the program.