Juveniles find success with alternative justice

The Center for Restorative Youth Justice in Kalispell claims to lower the chance a Flathead County juvenile offender will commit another crime by providing an alternative process to the traditional justice system.

In 2011, Montana reported a recidivism rate, the chance a youth will re-offend, between 31 and 32 percent. Flathead County’s recidivism rate was 25 percent. CRYJ clients have a 10 percent recidivism rate.

“The traditional justice system is punishment based, and that model doesn’t have the same level of success than when they have a conversation with who is hurt and how,” CRYJ Executive Director Shareen Springer said. “They take accountability for the harm they caused.”

There were 1200 documented juvenile offenses committed in Flathead County in 2011 and CRYJ worked with 260 of them. This includes people tried as minors for everything from assault with a weapon to stealing a candy bar.

The most common crimes were against property, such as egging. The second most common were status offenses, which wouldn’t be illegal if they were an adult. This includes offenses such as running away, curfew, and possession of alcohol or tobacco.

According to Springer, Flathead County’s rate for youth binge drinking is double the national average.

CRYJ’s roots stem from Peer Court in 1998 and was officially started in 2008 by Kalispell’s former mayor Pam Carbonari. Carbonari collaborated with juvenile probation and the schools to find a way to increase youth connections with the community and foster accountability.

Basically, CRYJ helps youth offenders understand why their actions are illegal and how they impact the community through six different programs. Approximately 85 percent of participants complete the program.

The first one is the Victim Impact Program. VIP provides timely, sensitive, and victim-focused response to all victims of juvenile crime. CRYJ provided support to 209 victims of juvenile crime.

According to Springer, 90 percent of participating victims feel that they would not have been able to heal and move forward.

The second is the Community Accountability Board. CAB is an alternative-sentencing option where juvenile offenders meet with a board of three or four members to discuss the impact of their actions.

The third is Victim Offender Conference. VOC is a voluntary process where the victim and offender meet with a trained and neutral facilitator to discuss the circumstances and impacts of the offense. Victims express how they were impacted, ask questions, and participate in deciding how the harm they experienced should be addressed and repaired.

Youth offenders are held directly accountable to the victim. Offenders also share the circumstances surrounding the offense and are encouraged to take responsibility for their actions.

The fourth is the Drug and Alcohol Accountability Program. DAAP provides youth offenders with an interactive group dialogue with peers and parents surrounding drug or alcohol related offenses. This provides understanding of the circumstances of the offense and involves youth volunteers with past experiences that give them perspective on substance abuse and its impacts.

“Having kids come back to check in or volunteer is a mark of success that this place was important enough that they want to come back and stay connected,” Springer said.

The fifth is Youth Connections, restorative community service. In this program, youth offenders establish themselves as valued community members through community service that combines critical thinking, civic responsibility and competency development.

Essentially, juveniles are less like to commit vandalism once a sense of community pride has been instilled.

The final one is the Theft Impact Circle. TIC explains whom theft impacts and how it affects the person, business and community.

“A big source of crime is feeling disconnected to the place that we live,” Springer said. “There’s a statistic that 40 percent of eighth through twelfth grade kids feel disconnected from their community in Montana.”

For more information about CRYJ, visit restor ativeyouthjustice.org or call 257-7494.