ABBEVILLE, La. (KLFY) — Teen court is a peer justice and juvenile diversion program. Juvenile offenders of non-violent crimes may be referred to the program where a court of their peers will determine their sentence. If the juvenile offender completes their sentence, they will have the charge(s) removed from their record. 

The goal is to decrease the amount of repeat juvenile offenders by offering an alternative court setting where they may feel more comfortable speaking and receiving direction and implementing effective programming that encourages change in the offenders. Teen court also seeks to provide judicial experience and scholarships to all participants.

Tyra McWhorter, the executive director who runs the teen court in Abbeville spoke on the program.

“Teen court here is for the kids. It gives them a second chance but while they still are dealing with the consequences of their actions. It’s an early intervention restorative juvenile justice program and is run by their peers,” she said. “This is a true definition of by your peers. They are the judges, the prosecutors, the defense attorneys, clerks, bailiffs and the jury.”

McWhorter said once they get the referral from the courts, the schools, people in the community and parents, the teenager comes to court, and the volunteer peers will give them a sentence. Once they finish the sentence, their cases are dismissed. 

“They may come in for maybe fighting vaping. Once we do our intake assessments, we find out there’s more issues that they’re dealing with, with maybe mom, dad, their siblings, or just friends,” McWhorter said. “So, we go through, and we help them with that, their triggers, everything.”

On average they have around 30 children a month and get weekly referrals. McWhorter said the program gives teens a voice.

“They get to say what’s going on and somebody actually listens, and we help them with it,” she said. “The parents are grateful because they have some extra help, somebody helping them with the issues that their kids are facing, and the community helps out. We get them straight, so we won’t have the issues that we’ve seen in the community. 

Talitha Boudreaux, who is a caseworker, said she meets with children and their parents to know who they are and what they are going through. 

“Sometimes the kids feel like they can’t really speak like they want to speak,” said Boudreaux. “So, my job is to sit up there to find out what is going on with them so that we can pinpoint the areas that they have problems with and work with them.”

One suggestion the ladies would like to do in the future is collaborate with city police to help teens who miss curfew. 

“The police pick them up instead of holding them, call us instead of having them have to write a report. That way we can pull them in automatically and that saves paperwork on them, and we can start it off right then and there. We’ve been looking to do that for a while now and we are still working on it,” explained Boudreaux.

McWhorter spoke on problems they have had finding space. 

“We do have spaces that we use and it’s limited. We have certain times we could be in it, but if we had our own space, we’re able to help. They could call us at any time. They could bring them to our building. We call it a holding cell for the juveniles,” she said. “Sometimes it helps the police officer. They could be doing other things then dealing with a curfew situation or a fight situation. Parents have called us sometimes before they call the police.” 

The teen court is looking for volunteers whether you are a teenager or an adult. If you are interested in volunteering, you can find more information here. 

“We are trying to do everything we can to help our youth, keep them out of trouble and let them know that they have a future and if they need anything, we’re here to support both child and parent,” said Boudreaux. 

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