The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Commission (JJDPC) has announced the formation and operations for the John Wilson Teen Court of Del Norte.Commission Chairman Paul Dilliard announced the Teen Court was named in honor of near-two decade JJDCP member John Wilson, who dedicated his professional life in helping youth at risk. With complete buy-in from Crescent City Police, the Del Norte Sheriff, Superior Court, Public and Behavioral Health Branches, Probation, District Attorney and Del Norte Unified School District, the Teen Court will put into practice Restorative Justice in helping troubled youth navigate a successful route avoiding crime and entering into the adult side of criminal justice.Teens must enter a mentoring program for several weeks in a once-only opportunity to successfully complete the program. Youth must acknowledge culpability components of the crime committed as part of the program. When completed, the offense to which the minor has been charged the crime, will be expunged. Failure to complete the program will refer the youth to the Court.#placement_573654_0_i{width:100%;max-width:550px;margin:0 auto;}var rnd = window.rnd || Math.floor(Math.random()*10e6);var pid573654 = window.pid573654 || rnd;var plc573654 = window.plc573654 || 0;var abkw = window.abkw || '';var absrc = 'https://ads.empowerlocal.co/adserve/;ID=181918;size=0x0;setID=573654;type=js;sw='+screen.width+';sh='+screen.height+';spr='+window.devicePixelRatio+';kw='+abkw+';pid='+pid573654+';place='+(plc573654++)+';rnd='+rnd+';click=CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER';var _absrc = absrc.split("type=js"); absrc = _absrc[0] + 'type=js;referrer=' + encodeURIComponent(document.location.href) + _absrc[1];document.write('');All youth will have a Teen member from Del Norte High along with an adult mentorship, working as a team to redirect the youth in a positive manner.All matters appearing before the Teen Court are confidential and adhere to the California State Standards for youth judicial accountability. “The hope and goal of Teen Court will be to direct referrals by partner agencies and Probation and will streamline the workload for all. An added benefit is that Teen Court can refer individuals to self-help programs that are being developed now at Probation,” said Dilliard.Drawing upon some 1500 national Teen Court models, volunteer jury opportunities and additional partners will be sought. The JJDPC followed Humboldt County’s restorative justice program. Please contact teencourtdelnorte@gmail.comThe Commission expressed its gratitude and appreciation for the partners’ avid support and input from local heads and delegates in developing this restorative justice program. Special thanks are proffered to David Dornaus who brought the Teen Court concept to the Commission’s attention and to Denise Doyle-Schnacker for coordinating its development. The program begins immediately. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('ad-1515727'); });