Newark Youth Court – Center for Court Innovation
Partner Overview
The Center for Court Innovation seeks to help create a more effective and humane justice system.The Center launched one of the first youth courts in New York in Red Hook, Brooklyn in 1998. Today, the Center also operates youth courts in Harlem, Queens, Staten Island, and Newark, N.J. Youth courts use positive peer pressure to ensure that young people who have committed minor offenses pay back the community and receive the help they need to avoid further involvement in the justice system. Youth courts hear a range of low-level crimes; many handle cases that would otherwise wind up in Family Court or Criminal Court. The Center also assists local jurisdictions in their efforts to establish youth courts.
Service Overview
We provide young people with meaningful alternatives to the formal justice system and engage youth voices to improve justice for all. Youth court trains teenagers to handle real-life cases involving their peers, offering a restorative response to misbehavior and an alternative to school suspension and arrests.
Programs:
-Newark Community Solutions
-Youth Court