Minnesota teen courts

• What are teen courts? 
• Program history
• Minnesota`s experience
• Contacts for Minnesota`s teen courts
• Resources: Link to additional national-level information on teen courts. 

 What Are Teen Courts?

A new kind of justice is taking place in many Minnesota communities. Youth who commit minor offenses such as petty theft, possession of alcohol, smoking or disorderly conduct, or who violate school rules are receiving consequences for their behavior not from the juvenile court system or a school disciplinary board but from a "jury" of their peers in teen court. Law enforcement and probation officers, teachers and others may refer youth to these voluntary programs operated in locations such as schools, nonprofit organizations, probation agencies and police departments. To participate, the youth must admit to having committed the offense. In most situations, successful completion of the program means that the youth will not have a juvenile record or, in the case of a school referral, will not be suspended or expelled. Aside from offenders, other youth may volunteer to fill such roles as juror or attorney. The function of the jury is to listen to the circumstances surrounding the offense and determine what consequence the youthful offender should receive as a result. Consequences include community service, writing essays related to the infraction, completing a counseling, treatment or educational program, apologizing to the victim, or participating as a juror in subsequent teen court cases. 

Program History

While teen courts are new to Minnesota, they have been in existence for more than 20 years in other states. The underlying philosophy of these programs is that positive peer pressure will help youth be less likely to reoffend and that youth are more receptive to consequences handed down from their peers than to those given by adults. The rapid growth of these programs appears to signal that this philosophy is working. More than 300 teen court programs are operating in more than 30 states and the District of Columbia, and the numbers are growing. 

Minnesota`s Experience

The first three teen courts were established in Minnesota in 1997 in Blue Earth County, Shoreview and Webster Open School in Minneapolis. Since then, four more teen court programs have been created in Grand Rapids, Truman and the counties of Lyon and Martin. Similarities exist among all seven Minnesota programs, but each is uniquely crafted to meet the needs and concerns of the community and youth they serve. The flexibility that makes them easily adaptable to individual communities is one of the best attributes of teen courts. Another factor that sets these programs apart is the impact they have on both the youthful offenders and the youth who volunteer as participants. Teen courts serve a dual function of holding youth offenders accountable while educating other youth and helping them to develop lifelong skills as they play a critical part in addressing the problem of youth crime in their community.

The first spark of interest in teen courts in Minnesota arose in 1995. Minnesota Planning began researching the programs and gathering information on the legal and practical implications of implementing teen courts in the state. The result of this research was a proposal in the Governor`s 1998-1999 biennial budget to establish and fund teen courts. The 1997 Minnesota Legislature appropriated $350,000 for the biennium to establish these programs and passed accompanying legislation outlining basic program guidelines. Minnesota Planning was given the responsibility of managing these grants and now works with six of the seven teen court programs in the state. All of the programs, except for the Blue Earth, Mower, Sibley and  Shoreview teen courts, are funded with money from this appropriation. The program in Shoreview is funded with prevention and intervention dollars from the Minnesota Department of Children, Families & Learning`s Youth-Focused Crime Prevention Projects. Blue Earth County`s program also is supported by this source but will receive subsequent funding from the state budget appropriation in January 1999 to continue operating until the end of June 1999. At this time, no state funding is earmarked for teen courts beyond fiscal year 1999. At least two of the grantees, however, plan to continue operating their programs by either absorbing the associated costs into local administrative budgets or seeking funds from other sources.

An additional component of the 1997 teen court legislation requires all programs funded through the $350,000 appropriation to comply with evaluation requirements established by Minnesota Planning. Staff from Minnesota Planning worked closely with the University of Minnesota`s Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement to develop an evaluation protocol for teen court programs. Evaluation activities include completing a six-month review, an annual outcome report and an implementation survey. The collection of uniform data from Minnesota`s seven teen court sites will provide an overall picture of how the programs are operating. Development of this protocol before the courts were implemented makes Minnesota unique in its approach to evaluating the effectiveness of these programs. 

Contact Information

Resources

• Knox County, Illinois 
  http://library.advanced.org/2640
• National Youth Court Center
  http://www.youthcourt.net