UROP Research Mentor Project Submission Portal: Submission #1050

Overall Research Project Description This project aims to examine the effects of teen courts on recidivism in Florida by learning how restorative practices and procedures are implemented across teen courts in our state. Teen courts are a diversion program serving as an alternative to processing juveniles through the traditional justice system. The goal of Teen Court is to address the youth’s behavior through peer-driven consequences and support, without involving the juvenile justice system typically assigning rehabilitative measures such as counseling, restitution, curfews, and community service. By focusing on restorative justice and peer accountability, Teen Court helps youth understand the impact of their actions and encourages positive behavioral changes.

However despite their common mandate, there is variance in the way the process is implemented across counties. This variance offers the opportunity to learn from restorative practices and procedures and the way that they are implemented. Across Florida, teen court programs vary in the way that they structure their sessions, the involvement of parents in the process, the methods through which volunteers are recruited and trained, the extent of cross-sector collaboration between teen courts and other juvenile justice stakeholders, the types of sanctions typically handed out, the number of times a youth can be admitted for services, and the struggles that they face.

In this project we want to learn more about the best practices across Florida teen court by conducting site visits across several teen courts in Florida and through reviewing survey responses from prior research we have conducted on this topic.