Teen Court is based on the Restorative Justice Model which seeks to redirect a youth’s behavior and attitude toward positive changes while emphasizing the need for the youth to repair the harm their behavior caused to themselves, their victim and community. Youthful offenders, called Respondents, admit their guilt and come before a jury of their peers who listen to information about the offense. The youth jury deliberates and then issues fair and appropriate sanctions for the respondent youth. Within this model, the jury, the attorneys and the bailiff are all volunteer teen peers and the judge is a volunteer adult.

“Financial support from the Hastings Community Foundation allowed us to have a webpage designed and launched. Having a presence on the internet is essential for the dissemination of correct and timely information and it has allowed us to build our program.”

– Jamie Vetter, Executive Director