What are Youth Courts (Peer Courts, Teen Courts, etc)? According to the National Association of Youth Courts, Youth Court is the most-replicated juvenile justice intervention in the history of the juvenile justice system. At Youth Courts, youth who have admitted responsibility for their actions are put through a Restorative Justice process and sentenced by their peers to repair the harm they caused to victims and the community. While the models differ slightly, “Peer Court”, “Teen Court” and other terms are often used as synonyms.

How does San Francisco Peer Court work? San Francisco Peer Court is a city-funded Peer-to-Peer Restorative Justice program that provides leadership opportunities and restorative alternatives to suspension and arrest. Youth offenders (also called respondents) are referred to the program so that they can take responsibility for their actions in the community, rather than advancing through the justice system. Generally, a youth respondent comes to Peer Court voluntarily, as an alternative to suspension, arrest, juvenile court or other justice sanction. Guilt and innocence are not determined at Peer Court. Rather, an attempt is made to identify and repair harm through the process.

What is Restorative Justice, and why do we use it? Restorative Justice is an approach that works to repair harm to victims, communities, offenders and families. Restorative Justice also gives a strong role to the community in promoting offender accountability and community safety. Restorative Justice can be contrasted to a “punitive approach”, which focuses on punishment and deterrence, rather than restoration.

Why use Peer Courts and RJ programs? There are many benefits to using restorative justice programs:      1) Better-serve victims  and the community in the justice and discipline processes.      2) Stakeholders and participants in restorative programs have much more direct access and “say in the process”.      3) Reduce the number of suspensions and arrests at school sites and in the district      4) Increase the Average Daily Attendance of SFUSD     5)   Provide advanced leadership opportunities to SFUSD students.      6)  increase the satisfaction of victims, communities, offenders and families with justice and discipline response.

What is the difference between your models: Peer Court, Teen Court, and Group Conferencing? While “Peer Court” is the umbrella term for the program, we use 2 main models when doing Restorative Justice: “Teen Court” most resembles an actual court room where teenagers play the roles of attorneys, bailiffs, clerks, and jurors. An adult (often an actual judge) sits on the bench and presides over the process. Teen Court is used for high school-aged students who have been referred by the SFPD as an alternative to arrest, or from another justice system source after arrest.   “Group Conferencing” looks like a mediation: it happens in a small group with 2-3 peer facilitators and 1 adult advisor. Conferencing is used most often for middle school-aged students referred by the school as an alternative to suspension, or for students referred by the police who are too young, inexperienced, or intimidated to properly benefit from Teen Court.

Who serves on the court? Youth leaders who are recommended by their schools, community organizations, peers or families are welcome to join the program and complete training. To maintain their status in the program, youth must keep at least a 2.0 GPA, not be currently on probation, and maintain positive behavior at school and in the community.

Does Peer Court decide Guilt/Innocence? No. Respondents who appear before the youth court have admitted responsibility for their actions and are willing to “repair the harm” they have caused through the sentencing process.  

What are the outcomes? While the outcomes of each case will be different based on the needs of the participants, most offenders complete some combination of the following activities as part of their sentence: community service, letters of apology to victims and family, keeping school progress reports, attending tutoring, life skills, or other coursework, direct service to victims (when appropriate), restitution for out-of-pocket expenses (when appropriate), projects at school and any others that are appropriate and restorative.  

How do you work with victims? Direct victims and secondary victims (family, community members) are regularly invited to participate in the restorative justice process to maximize healing and the impact of the program. Victims can participate in person, complete written “impact forms”, give verbal statements to be read in court, or send a representative to court in their place. All victim participation is voluntary.  

What about confidential information? San Francisco Peer Court utilizes a court order signed by Judge Donna Hitchens of the San Francisco Unified Family Court granting program staff access to otherwise confidential information like police reports, school records and others. Access to these vital documents helps the program to be more restorative in nature.  

What happens if the offender (respondent) does not complete the program? Peer Court is used as a diversion from suspension, arrest, juvenile court or other punitive sanction. When a case is referred to Peer Court,that original sanction remains in play until the youth respondent completes the program and satisfies the requirements of the Peer Court disposition. If the respondent fails to complete that disposition, the case is referred back to the referral source for further action…the original sanction is put back in place and the youth can be processed as normal.  

How can I refer volunteers to serve on the Peer Court? Our website has useful information, volunteer applications, training announcements, and other ways into the program for volunteers at WWW.PEERCOURT.ORG. We can also be reached by phone: 415-865-2524 or by email: Tony@peercourt.org.  

What types of cases qualify for Peer Court? Usually, first-time, non-violent misdemeanors are referred to youth courts, but it is not uncommon for any variety of cases to be referred from fist-fighting to carrying fake weapons on campus to theft to graffiti. For schools: any offense in school that is not mandated for automatic suspension, expulsion, or arrest is eligible for referral.   For Police: any offense that meets official department diversion guidelines is eligible for referral.  

How can I refer a case to Peer Court? Police officers, school principals and deans, and juvenile probation officers can refer youth respondents into the program using our online referral system at WWW.PEERCOURT.ORG. If you have any questions about whether a case is appropriate for referral, please contact:
Tony Litwak, Program Director: (415) 264-2675, Tony@peercourt.org
Nicole Brown, Program Manager: (858) 212-7220, Nicole@peercourt.org

Frequently Asked Questions