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Community Juvenile
Arbitration Program
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BACKGROUND
The Juvenile Arbitration Program was started In Florida several years
ago to give juvenile offenders an opportunity to clear their records by completing
requirements determined by a volunteer arbitrator. In 1983 the first Arbitration program
began In South Carolina and In 1996 the program began expanding across the state.
The 9th Circuit Solicitor's Office adopted the program for Charleston County in 1999
and expanded to Berkeley County in 2003.
OBJECTIVES OF THE JUVENILE ARBITRATION PROGRAM
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Permit the first time juvenile offender of a
minor crime to purge this record from the system by completing a list of
tailor-made requirements that are determined by a volunteer arbitrator.
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Reduce workload on the Department of Juvenile
Justice by removing certain cases from the system, allowing the staff to
concentrate on more serious/violent offenders.
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Encourage the community to become Involved In
the Juvenile Justice System.
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Director of Juvenile Diversion Programs
Noah Moore |
HOW IT WORKS
When a juvenile is charged with a crime, the case is sent to the
Department of Juvenile Justice. If the case
is appropriate for arbitration, the Department of Juvenile Justice will review the youth's prior record and
will forward the file to the Arbitration Program if it meets all criteria. This process
should be complete within two weeks after the arrest. The Director of the Community
Juvenile Arbitration Program, a division of the Solicitor's 0ffice, will establish a
hearing date, usually within three weeks from arrest and inform the following parties.
- Juvenile and parents
- Victim
- Arresting Officer
The program is voluntary and at this point the juvenile or family
member may decline to participate. These cases will be forwarded to the Solicitor's Office
for prosecution in the Juvenile Justice System. Those that accept arbitration will proceed
through the hearing process. At the hearing the Arbitrator determines the facts of the
case and formulates appropriate consequences. The arbitrator will also attempt to
determine if the juvenile's family is in need of assistance from available resources
(counseling, crisis intervention, assessments, family services, etc.).
The arbitrator will determine sanctions for the juvenile such as:
- Education - attend a session of General Sessions Court; visit a correctional
institution; attend substance abuse counseling or programs as deemed appropriate
- Restitution to victim
- Community Service - work in the community for a certain- number of hours.
The arbitrator will monitor the progress of the juvenile in completing
the requirements. If the arbitrator realizes other assistance should be given the youth or
family, the Arbitration Office will make any other appropriate contacts.
When all requirements are satisfied, the Arbitrator assigned to the case will notify
the Arbitration Program Director who will inform the Solicitor's Office that no record
need be created. The youth who completed the program can truthfully say that he/she has
never been convicted of a crime. It is hoped this will end the juvenile's involvement with
the Criminal Justice System.
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VOLUNTEERS
The program is built around citizen volunteers who act as the Arbitrators to conduct
hearings and monitor the juvenile's progress in meeting the requirements. To develop
qualified Arbitrators a training course is provided with classes in the following areas:
- Juvenile Criminal Justice
- Criminal Law
- Communications Skills
- Hearing Format and Technique
- Restorative Justice
- Victimization
Once the Arbitrators have passed all requirements, they will be
assigned two cases per month. They will also be expected to follow up previous hearings,
for a total time commitment of approximately eight hours per month, or two hours per week.
In a typical case it will take approximately three months for the juvenile to complete
defined requirements and have his/her record cleared.
Juvenile Arbitration has a 9% recidivism rate statewide and
less than 8% recidivism rate in Charleston County
Click here
to be a Citizen Volunteer
Click
here
to learn more about Community
Juvenile Arbitration and apply for the next class.
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