Youth Courts - A National Initiative

The National Association of Youth Courts (NAYC) was established in 2007 as a not-for-profit organization to represent the more than 1300 youth courts around the country. Youth courts also referred as peer, teen, or student courts have become part of America's landscape. Youth courts are the first step in administering justice through a series of graduated sanctions aimed at low level, first time non-violent offenders. Youth courts engage youth in civic education and empower them to take an active role in addressing the early stages of youth delinquency. They offer youth, who are not part of the criminal justice system, a chance to participate in the decision making process for reducing juvenile crime. Also, youth courts ensure immediate consequences to first-time offenders and allow the offender to take responsibility and be held accountable. Youth courts provide alternative resources to the juvenile justice system and make available to schools, police, probation departments, and Family Court Judges, a process and sanctioning structure alternative to the traditional court process. NCA/NCF