Teen Court Newsletter

FALL 2016
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Court Innovations
Peer Panels are the newest addition.

Since August, our youth Leaders have been meeting to discuss and implement new court ideas that they brought back from the CA statewide Summit and their trip to Marin.
A new addition is PEER PANELS. Peer Panels are a small group of youth that the participant checks-in with regarding the progress of their assignments. This helps with building community, peer mentoring, and successful completion. Peer panels utilize empathy, listening skills, and brainstorming together on how to overcome anything that may get in the way of successful completion. We have seen a major shift with one youth participant - he has finally started engaging and completing his tasks only after his first peer panel.

Back on Track!!
Teen Court is back to handling a full case load.

Multiple referring agencies have either just started a new diversion route to Teen Court or have strengthened their existing connection.
Eureka City Schools has strengthened their partnership with us. Eureka High School has been sending us many cases since the start of the school year. They decided to divert suspension level cases, in addition to their existing expulsion level cases. Winship Middle School just sent us their first case, and we are currently coaching up Zane Middle School on how to divert cases to Teen Court.
Fortuna Middle School signed an MOU with us in September. We have yet to get a case referred to us from them, but we look forward to the possibility of serving the Fortuna area.
Arcata Police Department just hired 2 diversion counselors, which will reinstate their diversion services program that was shuttered over a year ago. We welcome the renewal of this valuable partnership with Northern Humboldt.
Our sessions for Brief Interventions for Substance Using Adolescents have also seen a recent increase. We welcome the opportunity to serve those youth and families who need our services around substance abuse. Click Here for More Info about Brief Interventions
Selena Lopez recognized at court
Volunteers of the Month
August: Joseph Buck
Joseph has volunteered with Teen Court since last Spring and has recently been trained as a student attorney. We look forward to him handling his first case.  
September: Selena Lopez
Selena was recently trained as a student attorney, after joining Teen Court just this Spring. She has volunteered in a consistent manner and has stepped up to become one of our new Teen Court Leaders. She brings warmth and humor to her service with Teen Court.  
October: Ruth Magee

Ruth recently stepped up to be our Clerk for the first time. And hopes to soon be trained as a student attorney. And perhaps become a Leader next semester. She brings a great spirit to Teen Court and we love her participation.
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News Briefs

 

Parent Project

In August, Program Assistant Kelsey Reedy participated in a 5-day facilitator training for the Parent Project. This program is geared towards working with parents of difficult teens. She is well-versed in the project, so please reach out if you have any questions. Click Here for More Info

 


Pride Tabling     
On September 10th, multiple of our Leaders tabled at the annual Pride Festival. This was a great opportunity to network and recruit new youth volunteers. 

 

CA Association of Youth Courts (CAYC) Board Meeting    

On September 7th, Sacha Marini attended the annual CAYC board meeting in San Francisco. Serving on the statewide board for several years now, it is a great opportunity to keep our isolated rural community connected to the larger movement of youth courts.

 

CAYC Youth Advisory Council     

Leah Selcer has recently been selected to serve as a youth advisor to the CA Assosciation of Youth Courts for 2016-2017. She is one amongst 7 youth. We are pleased to have her function on the state level, and know that she will bring a positive and forward thinking perspective the work.

 

 

Student Attorney Training     

On September 15th, our Teen Court youth Leaders led a peer-to-peer training to teach 11 jury members how to step up and be student attorneys. Our Leaders shared their personal experiences and knowledge to coach up their peers in this new responsibility.

 

Leaders Orientation    

On September 16th, we welcomed 3 new Leaders to the Leaders program for this school year. We now have 7 youth Leaders who are committing to the Teen Court program on a weekly basis: Leah Selcer, Jenna Osenbaugh, Selena Lopez, Mazzie Stone, Al Villaruel, Alex Pena, Madison Lewis. There is opportunity to
join in with the Leaders program at the start of the second semester.
We hope some of you will consider joining this active and influential group.

 
Jury Training    
On October 27th,
our Teen Court youth Leaders led a peer-to-peer jury training to teach 8 jury members how to become new member and serve on the jury. 

 

Spanish Interpretation

Along with Kelsey, 3 Leaders present at LatinoNet on October 14th. At this meeting they also discussed an adult mentoring component for our occasional need for Spanish interpretation. This would be modeled after our mentor attorney component. An adult interpreter would coach a youth in techniques, talk to our youth interpreter about professionalism, an overview of interpreting, and give support and feedback on each interpretation experience.  And we have garnered 10 adults who are willing to be on a call list to volunteer their time for Spanish interpretation.

 

Recruitment

Instead of doing a broad announcement of recruitment this fall, we wanted to specifically bring in new volunteers that may be further out on the margins. It's crucial to get the perspective of those with relevant lived experience. Currently 10% of our participants continue to volunteer. We want to increase to 40% system-involved &/or those with relevant lived experience. Teen Court is a great service learning opportunity in civic engagement. During Teen Court sessions, youth utilize empathy, critical reasoning, and collaborative skills to assist youth in need, and they see how volunteerism and effort can positively affect future opportunities. These skills benefit any youth that gets involved with us.
Humboldt Sponsors Recognition  
At our October 27th court session, 3 of our youth Leaders recognized Humboldt Sponsors for their support of our annual trip to the CAYC Summit in June. Without their generous support in the community, BGCR would have a much harder time providing outstanding summer opportunities. Judy Stoffer was present to accept recognition on behalf of Humboldt Sponsors. THANK YOU!!!













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Restorative Assignment
Job Readiness with YEOP

The mission of Youth Employment Opportunity Program (YEOP)  is to aid troubled youth between the ages of 15-25 to reach their educational and vocational goals. They conduct 1-on-1 meetings to provide peer advice. Having been troubled youth themselves allows them to connect on a deep and meaningful level with their clients. They know what it's like to feel scared, lost, and confused while trying to establish themselves as independent individuals in society. They can help with building a resume, filling out job applications, provide mock interviews, help apply for colleges and financial aid, and more. YEOP holds many of the same values as Teen Court and they are a great asset in our community. Consider assigning a Teen Court participant a Job Readiness sentence when individualized, supportive assistance would help get a youth on track.  Click Here for More Info on YEOP

Upcoming Schedule

Court 
Eureka Courthouse 4:15-6:15 pm 
November 3 & 17         December 1 & 17           January 19             February 2 & 16   March 2 & 16                April 6 & 20                    May 4 & 18             June 1 & 15

Leaders Meetings
Teen Center 4:15-6:15 pm
 November 10                December 8                   January 12 & 26      February 2 & 23
March 9 & 23                April 13 & 27                  May 11 & 25            June 8 & 22

Other
Teen Court Office Closed: November 21-25
Teen Court Office Closed: December 19-30

Alex Pena, Mentor Anne Nguyen, Mazzie Stone
Current Mentors
Mentor Judge
Judge Christopher Wilson

Mentor Attorneys
Shelley Addison    Christina Allbright    Luke Brownfield    Bryan Daley    Randall Davis    Natalie Duke    Richard Hendry    Ryan Hurley  Neal Latt    Anne Nguyen    David Nims    Greg Rael    Erin Rowe    Casey Russo    Jeffrey Schwartz    Jeff Slack    Jessica Watson    Megan Yarnall

Contact:
Humboldt County Teen Court
3015 J Street, Eureka, CA  |  707-444-0153
hcteencourt@bgcredwoods.org
www.hcteencourt.org