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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2015 - 2016
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | May 13, 2024 03:52 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Timothy P. Kearney and Sen. John I. Kane |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | School-Based Youth Courts Pilot Program |
| We plan to introduce legislation to promote and evaluate an innovative strategy to improve school environments, enhance and remediate student educational outcomes, and disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline in Pennsylvania by creating a School-Based Youth Court Pilot Program. Parents, school administrators, and educators have been raising concerns about the net effects of punitive student disciplinary policies that emphasize suspension, expulsion, and referrals law enforcement. Together, these policies and practices increase the likelihood that wayward youth will end up in the criminal justice system and reduce the chances that they will finish their education and become productive members of society. This “School-to-Prison Pipeline” fails to achieve safe school environments, fails to improve student outcomes, and fails to serve society at large. However, there are better ways to resolve conflict and put students on the right track after misconduct. Youth courts are diversion programs in which youth are tried by a jury of their peers for minor offenses or violations. Implemented in many states’ juvenile justice systems, youth courts provide an alternative to the traditional disciplinary system and proceedings and harness positive peer accountability to help address anti-social, delinquent or criminal behavior. They are known to improve student-teacher relationships and school climate, and provide additional educational benefits for participating students, including civic engagement, public speaking, conflict-resolution, and leadership skills. Following passage of SR 32 in 2017, the Joint State Government Commission issued a report on the use and effect of youth courts in Pennsylvania’s education and juvenile justice systems in 2019. The report found that youth courts should be encouraged in both settings, and that the state should provide guidance and support to schools interested in beginning youth courts. Two years later, the Pennsylvania Juvenile Justice Task Force released its report and recommendations, calling to increase the use of diversionary programs for young people with low-level cases to community-based interventions. Youth courts fit the bill precisely. Our legislation will act on the recommendations of the Joint State Government Commission’s report, informed by the work of the Juvenile Justice Task Force and the 2020 Trauma Informed PA Plan. It will establish a pilot program for school-based youth courts and establish a Youth Court Resource Center to assist schools in the development of youth court programs and other restorative justice measures. The pilot program will include annual grants to school entities – including public middle and high schools, public charter schools, school districts, or intermediate units – to begin youth courts, develop partnerships to aid youth courts, or evaluate program outcomes. The pilot program will provide critical data to measure the efficacy of youth courts as a trauma-informed approach to improve disciplinary and educational outcomes for participating students. Please consider joining us in improving educational outcomes and civic engagement in our schools. |