Two weeks after training its first jury, Del Norte County’s presiding judge has referred a case to the new Teen Court program.
The newest wing of the community’s juvenile justice system will hear its first case in about three weeks, said Denise Doyle-Schnacker, who oversees the program.
“We have a volunteer coordinator right now who will meet with the young person and their family,” she told Redwood Voice Community News on Wednesday. “We have two — it’s her and an adult.”
The program’s first case originated with the Del Norte County Probation Department. According to Doyle-Schnacker, because officials sought restorative options, Presiding Judge Darrin McElfresh referred the case to Teen Court.
McElfresh has also offered to assist with the program, Doyle-Schnacker said, as have other representatives of the legal community, “to lend some authority.”
“It is a real process,” she said. “And if the [juvenile] don’t complete everything, they go right back into the court pathway.”
The Del Norte County Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Commission introduced the John Wilson Teen Court program to the community in November. The program is named for a former member of the JJC, a retired engineer who died in 2018. Kids in the system once called him grandpa, JJC Chairman Paul Dillard told Redwood Voice in November.
The program draws upon more than 1,500 other Teen Court models nationwide and aims to divert youth away from the traditional court system.
Supporters of the program include the Del Norte County District Attorney’s Office, including Deputy District Attorney Lisa Specchio, according to Doyle-Schnacker. Other members of the team include the Yurok Wellness Court, the Smart Workforce Center, the Workability and Transition Partnership Program as well as the Del Norte County Probation Department.
Del Norte’s Teen Court program will weigh in on misdemeanor offenses and some “wobbler offenses,” those that have a threshold between misdemeanors and felonies, according to Doyle-Schnacker.
Currently, the program is in the process of training its jury and its volunteer coordinator, Doyle-Schnacker said. There will be an advocate role, which is similar to a lawyer, but for now the volunteer coordinator will also be the advocate, she said.
There will also be a facilitator, who is also a youth that will preside over the proceedings as a judge would. The juvenile going through the process will have a chance to make a statement and then the jury will deliberate.
“Then they make a plan,” Doyle-Schnacker said. “They bring the participant and the advocate back in and they deliver their decision.”
According to Doyle-Schnacker, youth diverted to the Teen Court program are required to serve on the program’s jury at least three times. At the end of their hearing, participants may be required to be assessed by a school counselor or the Mental Health Branch. They may be required to have dinner with their family with the Teen Court program purchasing the food.
Teen Court will also refer participants to the Youth Opportunity Center, which is operated through the Del Norte County Probation Department.
“It’s kind of working hand-in-glove with probation to keep them out of that prison pipeline,” she said.
District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey has been a strong proponent of the Teen Court program since the JJC began working with Probation to create it. A retired Sonoma County probation officer, Starkey said she spent the last 10 years of her career working with youth in the juvenile justice system.
“I feel like this is going to be a huge success and a way to divert kids from getting into the system to begin with,” she said. “People screw up. We all do, and there needs to be consequences for your screw-ups. But this is an alternative to have before they get too deeply embedded in the system.”
Since the program is volunteer-based, Starkey said, very little funding is needed to operate it currently. But as it gets larger, a program director will be needed — someone who monitors referrals and sets the calendar, she said.
While Starkey says that still won’t require a lot of money, she said she hopes the Probation Department can use part of a $3 million grant from the Board of State and Community Corrections for the program.
Doyle-Schnacker said her “dream budget” for the program is $79,000 a year. That would pay for a part-time program coordinator. She said she’d also like to hold celebrations for participants that complete Teen Court and the jurors since they’re volunteering their time.
Doyle-Schnacker also envisions field trips to see Humboldt County’s Teen Court in action.
“They actually sit at the state level on advisories for the judicial system. Our kids could do that,” she said. “Our coordinator actually wants to be a judge one day. We want that pipeline, that career-technical pathway to the legal system that is restorative and not just a punishment.”
All matters appearing before Teen Court are confidential. Youth who are interested in serving on a jury should email teencourtdelnorte@gmail.com.
