Experts suggest youth courts to reduce juvenile crime in Pa.
For public safety and better long-term outcomes, some experts say schools should create youth courts — run by students, for students.
The court — considered a way to keep more people out of the criminal justice system — serves a restorative role in helping children and teens see the hurtful consequences of their actions.
State House Republicans heard testimony from supporters as part of a Republican Policy Committee hearing on community safety Monday in Glen Mills, Delaware County.
Gregg Volz, an instructor for criminal justice and director of youth courts at Harcum College, told the House Republican Policy Committee on Monday that youth courts “create good citizens who will be less inclined to engage in violent acts.”
“They are student-run, disciplinary programs usually run in high schools and middle schools that can do two things,” he said. “They can keep a kid from being suspended or expelled for a relatively minor act that a lot of teenagers engage in, and they can also diminish the referral system to the justice system.”
The idea of a youth court is an outgrowth of effectively dealing with student mental health and trauma, experts say.
“We must consider a multi-domain approach prioritizing youth mental health, access to preventative and diversionary programming, and the use of restorative practice to effect lasting change,” said Liam Power of the Pennsylvania Governor’s Office of Advocacy and Reform. “Trauma-informed practices which create a culture of safety are an effective strategy for addressing youth mental health.”
Power said a strong correlation exists between mental health issues and the juvenile justice system: a majority of young people — 7 in 10 — within the system have a diagnosed mental health condition. State and county prisons for adults see a similar trend, The Center Square previously reported.
Keeping children out of the formal system, the idea goes, can help them avoid prison in the future and make schools better.
“These critical efforts have the potential to significantly improve youth mental health, develop positive cultures within schools, and undermine other factors leading to youth crime,” Power said.
Youth courts could also lessen some of the burden placed on the “fatigued” and “exhausted” criminal justice system, Volz said.
“I believe that a well-structured youth court bill, tied in with trauma and with juvenile justice reform, would go a long way towards building the kind of students and citizens that this commonwealth needs,” he said.
Youth courts have been called an “effective program structure” by the National Gang Center and a “promising program structure” by the federal government’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Some research suggests youth courts reduce recidivism at higher rates compared to the regular juvenile justice system.
Volz estimates roughly 70 youth courts already exist within school districts, and several more in the juvenile justice system — before the pandemic. Their use, however, isn’t a way to avoid punishment or accountability. “The overall essence of (youth court) is children taking care of children’s problems before they become bigger problems — before they become school administration problems … (or) a criminal justice problem,” said Rep. Craig Williams, R-Chadds Ford, and a former federal prosecutor. “The whole idea here is not just an off-ramp and an excuse, but accountability as well.”
The emphasis on mental health and trauma furthers that goal, advocates argue.
“Trauma-informed care and accountability do, in fact, go hand-in-hand,” Power said. “We must live in a place of accountability, we must enforce laws.”