Statistical Data

(Youth Justice Programs in the USA)

 

Youth Justice Programs are also referred to as:

• Teen Court diversion program
  
• Peer Court diversion program
  
• Student Court diversion program
  
• Youth Court diversion program
  
• Youth Peer Panel diversion program
  
• Youth Peer Jury diversion program
• Peer Jury diversion program
  

 Youth Justice Program Operations

• Agencies operating and administering youth justice programs include juvenile courts, juvenile probation departments, law enforcement, private nonprofit organizations, and schools.
• According to the Federal Government (USA):
  • Approximately 42% of youth justice programs in operation are juvenile justice system-based programs.
  • Approximately 22% of youth justice programs are community-based and are incorporated as, or operated by, private nonprofit organizations.
  • Approximately 36% of youth justice programs are school-based.

Youth Justice Program Functions

• The primary function of most youth justice programs is to determine a fair and restorative sentence or disposition for the youth respondent.
• According to the Federal Government (USA):
  • 93% of youth justice programs in the U.S. require youth to admit guilt prior to participating in youth court.
  • In the 7% of youth justice programs that allow youth to plead “not guilty”, if a youth chooses to plead “not guilty”, the program conducts a hearing to determine guilt or innocence. If the defendant is found “guilty,” then an appropriate disposition is rendered by the youth justice program.
  • When defendants successfully complete a youth justice program, 63% of youth justice programs dismiss the charges. 27% immediately expunge the defendant’s record.

Youth Justice Program Models

• The four primary youth court program models are the Adult Judge, Youth Judge, Peer Jury, and Youth Tribunal Models.  Approximately twenty-five (25) variations exist, with hundreds of programmatic differences.  Some local communities operate two (2) different youth justice models.  Like Juvenile Justice - most Youth Justice operational and administrative decisions are local determined by adult community leaders, with active youth involvement.


• According to the Federal Government (USA):
  • The Adult Judge My model is used by approximately 53% of youth justice programs.
  • The Youth Judge Model is used by approximately 18% of youth justice programs.
  • The Peer Jury Model is used by approximately 31% of youth justice programs.
  • The Youth Tribunal Model is used by approximately 10% of youth justice programs.

Type of offense	Percentage of Youth Justice Programs that accept this type of offense
Theft	91%
Vandalism/Graffiti	76%
Alcohol	73%
Disorderly Conduct	73%
Assault	67%
Possession of Marijuana	60%
Tobacco	59%
Curfew Violations	50%
School Disciplinary	45%
Traffic Violation	39%
Truancy	39%
Trespassing	38%
Criminal Mischief	30%
Possession of Drug Paraphernalia	24%
Other drug offenses	20%
Harassment	21%
Fraud	8%

Sentencing option	Percentage of youth justice programs that use this sentencing option
Community Service	99%
Oral/Written Apologies	94%
Essays	92%
Educational Workshops	73%
Jury Duty	73%
Restitution	61%
Alcohol/Drug Assessment	57%
Curfew	46%
Tutoring	37%
Counseling	37%
Drug Testing	31%
Victim Awareness Classes	29%
Victim/Offender Mediation	28%
Peer Mediation	23%
Jail Tour	22%
Observe Teen Court	14%
Mentoring	13%
Suspend Driver’s License	9%

Miscellaneous Facts and Stats

• 53% of youth justice programs require respondents to participate in jury duty at least once as part of their sentence.
• The average amount of training that most youth justice volunteers receive is 10 hours.
• 55% of youth justice programs close their hearings to the general public.
• 30% of youth justice programs hold hearings at least once a month.
• 70% of youth justice programs hold hearings all year long vs. 28% of programs that operate during the school year only.
• The average reported annual budget for a youth justice program is approximately $32,767.  Some programs operation on a $1,000 budget and other operate on a $100,000 budget.  Programmatic services often are the primary factor in the annual operational expenses.

 

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