Youth Transforming Justice - San Mateo County

Description

We are recruiting teens to participate in Youth Transforming Justice. Our group has contracts with police departments, Probation, and school districts to divert teens with low-level offenses who might otherwise become system-involved. Part of the program is a peer court. We have a particularly restorative focus that not act like a typical peer court. We follow Marin County's YTJ model which has a 90% completion rate and a 7% recidivism rate for offenses referred by Marin County Probation. Our goal is for teen participants who have had trouble with the law to want to become leaders in the organization. We offer paid fellowships for teens from communities most affected by the juvenile justice system.

The program is voluntary and requires youth and parent commitments. The referred teen:

• Participates with parents in an intake meeting, Drug and Alcohol Harm Reduction Training, family discussions and healing, and the exit interview
• Experiences Peer Restorative Solutions (peer court), restorative circles, or both and serve on the peer court
• Connect with their community through meaningful community engagement (not picking up trash!)

Two therapeutic adults are on-staff to lead the more intense therapeutic program components, to provide restorative justice and leadership training and mentoring, and to facilitate the many aspects of the organization that are peer led.