Teen court is a diversion program run by teenagers for teenagers. Youth are trained to run the courtroom with a focus on restorative justice and harm reduction. The goal is to help teens who have committed minor crimes get back on track.
"You鈥檙e gonna be wrong at times," said Paul Dillard, chairman of Del Norte County鈥檚 Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Commission. "A major thing in life is, there鈥檚 nothing wrong with being wrong, it鈥檚 staying wrong. And we鈥檙e trying to break that cycle."
Here鈥檚 how it works: Say a teenager commits a first-time, non-violent offense 鈥� not a felony, something like fighting, smoking or graffiti. They can be voluntarily referred to the program by schools, police or other entities.
Then they work with a court of their peers. After the intake process, there鈥檚 a sort of judge, called a youth facilitator, a sort of jury, made up of teenagers and advocates rather than attorneys. There鈥檚 also a legal representative, an adult judge or attorney, to guide the process.
"You鈥檙e gonna be wrong at times ... A major thing in life is, there鈥檚 nothing wrong with being wrong, it鈥檚 staying wrong. And we鈥檙e trying to break that cycle."Paul Dillard, chairman of Del Norte County鈥檚 Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Commission
Unlike normal court, teen court starts with the premise that the participant did commit the offense. They have to accept responsibility. The jury comes up with a decision to help the kid correct the harm they鈥檝e done. That might mean writing a letter of apology, painting over the graffiti or attending mental health counseling.
But they only get one chance.
"If you don鈥檛 complete it, and you get referred back to the agency that referred you, then you could end up in formal court," Dillard said.
Teen court participants must also get trained as jurors themselves and participate in at least three juries in the future.
"It鈥檚 much more uncomfortable for a child not to have a punitive consequence and have to fix it," said Jeff Harris, superintendent of the Del Norte Unified School District and Del Norte County Office of Education. "But it also builds character, and it builds community and it builds maturity."
Baylee Dundom 鈥� a high school senior on the Juvenile Justice Commission who鈥檚 helping coordinate the program 鈥� thinks it will help her peers who struggle with certain problems.
"Mainly smoking. Graffiti. I know a lot of people steal from the self checkouts at Safeway," she said.
The program has a lot of community support. Talking to a judge, District Attorney, County Chief of Probation, Crescent City Police Chief and school superintendent, they're all on board.
"Why not try, at least?" said Police Chief Richard Griffin. "The worst that could happen is the same thing that鈥檚 happening right now."
"Happening right now"
What鈥檚 happening right now in Del Norte County is kind of rough. It鈥檚 a small, rural county with few resources and a population of only about 26,000. Almost 14% of people live in poverty, and many struggle with substance abuse or trauma.
District Attorney Katherine Micks said the region has a high level of neglect.
"I see the condition of homes that law enforcement responds to, I read all of the suspected child abuse reports, and this is a depressed economy, and I think that a lot of our youth aren鈥檛 provided the tools and the resources and the support from their families that would maybe prevent them from committing crimes or using drugs," she said.
All of this trickles down to kids.
Chief Griffin said many of them seem to think a life of crime is not only inevitable, but enviable.
"I鈥檝e had kids tell me they couldn鈥檛 wait to get their number tattooed on them in San Quentin [Rehabilitation Center] because their parents did," he said.
The volunteers spearheading the teen court program hope it will be a supportive way to divert kids from heading down that path.
Maybe they need help mapping out goals for their life. Maybe participating in teen court sparks an interest in law.
"We have an opportunity to make a real difference," Micks said. "The opportunity to have youth engaging with other youth in that process as opposed to engaging with this cold justice system 鈥� we could really hit a sweet spot there."
And the county doesn鈥檛 have many other options for struggling youth. There鈥檚 a Youth Opportunity Center run by the , but a school for boys who were wards of the court closed in 2017, and the county鈥檚 youth detention facility closed in 2023.
"There was a huge gap," said Denise Schnacker, who's implementing the teen court. "Where are we going to divert young people so that we can stop things from going down that road?"
Del Norte actually used to have a teen court decades ago, but it shut down, and no one seems to know why.
"I鈥檝e had kids tell me they couldn鈥檛 wait to get their number tattooed on them in San Quentin because their parents did."Richard Griffin, Crescent City Police Chief
The new version, called the John Wilson Teen Court program, is named for a previous member of the Juvenile Justice Commission who passed away. Dillard said the program has been in the works since before COVID, but the pandemic stalled efforts. The idea was first suggested by David Dornaus, the Commission's vice chairman.
The program is entirely volunteer-run and currently has no funding. Schnacker said in the next year or two, they'll need funding and will work on applying for grants.
Looking south for advice
In building the new program, Del Norte has turned to Humboldt County for guidance. Humboldt founded the first teen court program in the state, 24 years ago.
Gemma Caruso, a high school junior and teen court leader in Humboldt, said having the program be peer-led makes it uniquely supportive.
"While adults are amazing and sympathetic and they really do their best, there are some things that you might only feel comfortable sharing with a teenager, or that only a teenager could fully understand because we're dealing with the same things," she said.
According to Caruso, the program has been really successful, with a 9% recidivism rate. Over the years, she said they've heard about 670 cases.
Meanwhile, teen courts have cropped up across the country in recent decades, with over 1,000 programs.
Caruso said their main problems are lack of funding and lack of volunteers.
But she has some advice for the youth in Del Norte County as they start their new teen court.
"Remember that you're seeing a person, not a statistic, not a police report," she said. "You are seeing them as they are, and we all have our rough moments. And forgiveness is really important."
Del Norte鈥檚 teen court will hear its first cases on February 27. The goal is to hold hearings every two weeks.
