Youth Courts Paper Presented March 16, 2012
As part of the 2012 Edward V. Sparer Symposium at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law, Gregg Volz, a Stoneleigh Foundation Fellow and public interest lawyer, David K. Trevaskis, PBA pro bono coordinator, and Rachel Miller, a third year law student at Penn, presented a paper describing the support that lawyers, especially the PBA, have provided to the youth courts movement. Click here for the paper, titled "Coming of Age Against the Odds: Advocating for At-Risk Youth," as posted to the Penn law website.

Pennsylvania Juvenile Court Judges' Commission Resources
Click here for the Juvenile Court Judges' Commission website. Click here for the May 2011 JCJC newsletter featuring information on youth courts.

Shilpa Boppana Receives Inaugural Swarthmore College Edgar and Jean Camper Cahn Law and Social Justice Award
Shilpa Boppana, a 2011 graduate of Swarthmore College and a former intern with the founder of the Chester youth court program, received the inaugural Swarthmore College Edgar and Jean Camper Cahn Law and Social Justice Award on May 29, 2011. Click here for more on Boppana and photos from the award event.

Pennsylvania Lawyer Magazine March/April 2011 Article on Youth Courts by Greg Volz

Philadelphia Inquirer Article on Chester High School Youth Court, Feb. 28, 2011

April 2010: Greg Volz looks on as four of his youth court “pioneers” who have been with him for three years are honored with new laptops for their work with the Chester High School Youth Court.

ABA Youth Cases for Youth Courts Desktop Guide: A Guide to the Typical Offenses Handled by Youth Courts

New York State Youth Court 2010 Best Practices Manual
If you're interested in youth courts, check out “Recommended Practices for Youth Courts: A Manual for New York Youth Court Coordinators and Practitioners.” The March 2010 manual is available for review and download at http://www.courtinnovation.org/_uploads/documents/Youth_Court_Manual.pdf. Its 121 pages are based on a literature search, site visits to selected New York State youth courts and a survey of youth courts.

Spring 2009 Article and Developments in Chester, Pa.
Among those attending the 2007 Outreach to Children Summit described below was a group of law and justice professionals and educators from the City of Chester, who took up Higgins' challenge that Pennsylvania should have a broad network of teen courts and who have spent the last three years developing and implementing such a court at Chester High School. For more information on youth courts, click here for an article from the spring 2009 issue of the Juvenile and Family Court Journal.

In an exciting extension to the program in Chester, the 2009-10 school year has seen the creation at of an elective Street Law class Chester High to expand the reach of the youth court with extra activities, including participation in the 27th annual Statewide Mock Trial Competition sponsored by the PBA Young Lawyers Division. Plans are also moving forward for the unveiling of a Law Academy at Chester High in 2010-11, which will be a reflection of the civic education outreach of Pennsylvania First Lady and 3rd U.S. Circuit Judge Midge Rendell. Delaware County Bar President Bruce Rodger is among those leading local efforts to develop support for the Law Academy.

2007 Event: Outreach to Children Summit; Children & Families in the System
During the Interdisciplinary Children's Summit convened in May 2007 by then-PBA President Kenneth Horoho, Bedford County District Attorney William Higgins presented an informational session on teen courts, a juvenile justice intervention that allows youth who have violated the norms of society, whether in school or beyond, to be adjudicated before a peer jury. Go to http://www.pabar.org/public/committees/childini/summit.asp for event links, including a link to Higgins' PowerPoint on this topic (Teen Court Model, Presentation by William J. Higgins Jr., District Attorney, Bedford County).