Holland Teen Court Defendant Page

Holland, Michigan

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The Holland Police Department refers cases to Holland Teen Court. Community Policing Officers will make a report, which is sent to the Teen Court Coordinator for processing. NO repeat offenders, or juveniles that do not admit guilt, will be referred.

Juvenile first-time offenders between the ages of 10 and 17 who plead guilty to the following offenses are considered for Holland Teen Court:

Curfew Violation
Littering
Retail Fraud (2nd degree)
Larceny (less than $100)
Smoking/Possession of Cigarettes
Fireworks Possession
City Ordinance Violation
Disorderly Conduct
Trespassing
Loud Music
MDP (less than $100)
Alcohol Violations (excluding MIP)
Minor Assault
Obstructing Police
Driving Offenses

The defendant must successfully complete the sentence reached by the peer jury in the allotted time, or they will be referred back to the appropriate court. The judge can alter the sentence of the jury if it appears too harsh, but jury decisions usually stand.

The following sentences are possible choices of the peer jury:

Community Service Hours (Jury selects date due)

Level 1: 8-12 hours

(typically for curfew violation, smoking/possession cigarettes, trespassing, littering, fireworks possession, city ordinance violation, retail fraud<$25, loud music)

Level 2: 12-24 hours

(typically for retail fraud>$25, MDP<$100, Larceny<$100, disorderly conduct, R&C<$100)

Restitution (Jury selects dollar amount)

Essay (Jury specifies number of words, topic, date due)

Apology to victim (Written proof required)

Other

The defendant is responsible for ensuring that all required paperwork (community service log, essay, etc.) is sent and received at City Hall by the specified date.

With the growing interest and respect for teen courts nationally, some exciting developments have recently taken place regarding evaluation and statistics. The wide spectrum of models being utilized across the nation make it difficult to gather consistent and valid data on the effectiveness and outcomes of teen court. However, studies conducted within recent years have been able to compile some significant information, specific to individual Teen Court programs.

One should read this statistical information keeping in mind that the results cited here represent a localized program, not HTC specifically. Current work is underway to begin the data collection process for HTC, measuring jurors, defendants, and parents.

In addition to the studies we site here, results from the Urban Institute's national evaluation of teen courts are scheduled to be disseminated sometime this year (2000). This evaluation (funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention) represents a first in a comprehensive look at all aspects and dynamics of various teen court models.

One 1997 evaluation conducted by James B. Wells and Kevin I. Minor, assessed teen courts in several sites around Kentucky using a variety of data collection strategies, including knowledge tests, attitudinal measures, field observations, exit evaluations and recidivism data. Some of their findings are as follows:

With minor exception, defendants provided with both pretest and posttest data showed gains in knowledge test scores.
Most participants' parents perceived their children as benefiting a great deal from the teen court experience.
Recidivism rates from cases processed in the 1994-95 timeframe was 37 percent. Compliance with teen court sentences was found to be associated with a reduced likelihood of recidivism. Gender, age, and prior offenses were not related to recidivism.

SRA Associates evaluation (Jones 1995) of a Santa Rosa, California program - Routes For Youth, found some program-related outcomes:

Reduction in recidivism among the targeted population during the 18 month period of evaluation, only 2.5 percent of 238 teen court referrals were reported by Juvenile Probation as re-arrests.
Contribution of community service - a total of 4,008 community service hours were provided by youth offenders in a wide variety of public and not-for-profit agencies.

With approximately 630 active teen/youth courts using various models functioning across the nation, concrete data collection is challenging. At HTC, our primary program goals are: (1) To reduce recidivism rates in Teen Court participants, (2) To provide a positive collaborative relationship between law enforcement, court system and the youth community, (3) To provide law-related education through teen court training, hearing participation, and educational talks by local attorneys and legal community, and (4) To contribute positively to our community through community service at public and not-for-profit agencies.

Updates on Holland Teen Court's program evaluation will consistently be posted to the web site. For further information on Teen Court statistics and studies, visit the web sites listed on our "Links" pages, or contact us directly.

References:

American Bar Association, Division for Public Education - "Technical Assistance Bulletin No. 17", 1998.

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention - "OJJDP Fact Sheet", October 1999, #118.

Jones, Carol. "Teen Court Evaluation of 1994 Activities and Goals: Routes for Youth, Santa Rosa, California." Sebastopol, Calif.: SRA Associates, June 1995.

Wells, James B. and Kevin I. Minor: "Kentucky's Teen Court Initiative: An Assessment," Prepared for Kentucky Court of Justice, Administrative Office of the Courts, Frankfort, KY., 1997.

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