I have been volunteering with the Juneau Youth Court (JYC) for the last year and a half. JYC is an alternative court system ¬operated by students for offenders who are under 18, and allows teens who have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor offenses such as Minor Consuming or Shoplifting to have their case heard outside the state court system. When an offender has completed their sentence imposed by JYC, their case is dismissed; if they don’t go through JYC or don’t complete their sentence, their charges will remain on their record.
JYC attempts to use a restorative justice approach to discipline rather than simply imposing a punishment so that young offenders will realize the harm that they did, and make restitution. Because JYC focuses on the teen demonstrating an understanding of why their actions were wrong and helping them fix it, repeat offenders are rare (only 6-9% of offenders repeat within 6 months).
Being a part of JYC has made me aware that some kids in our community are faced with significant challenges beyond the specific offense that brought them to JYC. These challenges include substance or alcohol abuse by the minor or their family, sexual or physical violence, family instability, neglect, or a frequent changing of schools.
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We could assign more teens to go to Super Saturday (weekend study hall at school) to help catch up with schoolwork. We could also permit students whose parents aren’t supportive of JYC to participate by allowing a teacher or other non-family adult to come with them. By requiring offenders to participate in an organization such as Big Brothers/ Big Sisters they could get supportive adults in their life, and finally JYC could expand so that offenders in smaller communities in Southeast Alaska are able to participate in