NCJ Number
81239
Date Published
1981
Length
49 pages
Annotation
This manual describes the role of committee personnel and committee referral procedures for El Paso, Tex., citizen groups participating in the Juvenile Court Conference committees, whose goal is to offer an alternative to the formal juvenile justice system by diverting juveniles to their own community for assistance.
Abstract
The functions of the juvenile court judge, the juvenile court administrator, the conference committee coordinator, the chairperson, and the committee sponsor and secretaries are explained. Referrals will be received after they are screened by the probation department and include cases involving family conflicts, runaway and truancy cases, certain Class B misdemeanors, and other offenses. After a case is accepted, the secretary schedules a conference between the conference committee and the family and child; each committee consists of one or more teams which confer to formulate a disposition or agreement regarding the juvenile. The committee can decide that no further action is warranted on a case and close the meeting, assign no more than 75 hours of community service work, call for payment of restitution to the victim, assign the juvenile to work for the victim without reimbursement, make the juvenile write an essay, or take other actions. The manual also explains the meaning of community service and restitution, describes case disposition and followup procedures, discusses the issue of confidentiality, and presents a procedural outline for referrals from the probation department. Charts, sample forms, and other information are appended.