A Community Based Program

Of the Nonprofit

Utah Law Related Education

What is Salt Lake Peer Court?

• A prevention / intervention program utilized by the Salt Lake City School District. Approximately 300 youth are referred to Peer Court each year. Most frequently referred offenses are: truancy, fighting, disorderly conduct, theft, vandalism, bullying, and tobacco.

• An alternative to the traditional juvenile justice system; 120 youth volunteers each school year sentence and mentor their peers who are referred for minor offenses.

• A three part program: 1) Peer Court Hearings 2) Peer Mentoring 3) Mediation

• A restorative justice approach to hold youth accountable for their actions, to build skills, and to strengthen their ties to school and community

• Empowers youth and communities to take an active role in addressing the early stages of youth delinquency

• Eliminates social barriers and unites youth throughout the community as they collaborate to intervene with referred youth

Benefits

• Partnering in preventing juvenile crime

• Empowering youth as stakeholders in their community

• Gaining hands-on knowledge about citizenship and law

• Learning public speaking and leadership skills

• Communities recovering losses due to juvenile crimes

• Communities gaining more confidence in youth

• Reducing juvenile court backlogs

To read more about Salt Lake Peer Court, visit: www.deseretnews.com/article

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