Teen Court, a program offered through The Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse offers a unique and highly effective method of doling out consequences to juvenile offenders, according to program directors.

Teen Court is a voluntary program where first-time juvenile offenders who have admitted to committing misdemeanor crimes or infractions are eligible to have a jury of their peers decide their sentences in

accordance with guidelines.

Eligible teens are referred through the probation department or by other means, such as school. Participants range in age from 10 to 18, if they committed the offense when they were 17.

Jurors for Teen Court either volunteer, sometimes for school or community-service credit, or are sentenced to serve on the jury after committing crimes.

The sentences are constructive, according to program directors, and include community service, Teen Court jury duty, educational programs, counseling services and other options such as letters of apology and a weekend work project.

If a Teen Court respondent completes their sentence within the time allotted and does not re-offend, they earn a “clean slate” on their record. If they fail the Teen Court program, they are sent back to the referring agency or court for traditional processing.

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Teen Court is held in Santa Maria, Santa Ynez, Lompoc and Santa Barbara. There are Teen Courts across the country, and directors said Santa Barbara County was one of the first to deal with select driving-under-the-influence cases. Ventura or San Luis Obispo counties currently don't have Teen Court programs, according to management.

Program Manager Crystal Moreno said Teen Court gives back personal responsibility to offenders for their actions.

“It's an opportunity for both parties - for the defendant and the jurors,” she said. “It's been an opportunity to get them reconnected with the community.”

Ed Cué, program director, said Teen Court is powered by the influence of teen jurors.

“Because it's coming from their peers, it's taken to heart,” he said.

Teen Court respondents also have a low rate of recidivism, Cué said, with 10 percent coming back to the juvenile court system.

“We feel, and it's our goal that we're going to have high success with the students that are coming through our system,” Cué said.

Martin Conoley, deputy chief probation officer, said Teen Court lightens the load for the probation department by taking on hundreds of lesser offense cases.

“We couldn't supervise 6,000 kids,” Conoley said. “We don't have the staffing.”

“For kids needing sanction or an intervention, Teen Court's a very good program. So, we appreciate Teen Court,” he said.

Samantha Yale can be reached at 739-2159 or syale@santamariatimes.com.

April 14, 2007