History

  In the late 1990s, a legislator from a small community in southern middle Tennessee attended a conference.  At the conference there was a session presenting a new idea, a prevention and intervention program that could be a diversion for juvenile first-time offenders. The session was about “Teen Courts.” The Legislator was Senator Joseph Fowlkes from Giles County.   Sen. Joe Fowlkes proposed and sponsored legislation to create teen courts in Tennessee.  Joined by Rep John DeBerry of Memphis, the team promulgated the Teen Court Act of 2000.

At the request of the Select Committee on Children and Youth, the Tennessee Bar Association (TBA) became the program’s first home in 2000.

Over time, teen courts became known by many names, youth courts, peer courts, student courts, peer tribunals – all referring to the teen-driven, family focused program rooted in restorative justice practices.

The program met with initial acceptance. The City of Bristol established the first program immediately followed by Sumner County and other communities across Tennessee until there were 12 counties operating 12 youth court programs within the first nine years of the program.   Then, after a brief decline, momentum reignited in 2011.  From 2011 to 2015, the youth court program nearly doubled in size.  Nineteen counties had expressed the desire to start youth court programs.

In 2015, the reigns were passed to a Blount County nonprofit. The transformed 501c(3) was reborn as Tennessee Youth Courts, Inc. that we know today.

During the last seven years, the organization has grown from nine counties with nine programs to eighteen counties that are requesting programs and a school district utilizing youth court programs as part of their discipline framework.

Youth Court Programs are evidence based

Tennessee Youth Court Programs are scientifically researched, evidence-based, teen driven, and family focused diversion programs based on restorative justice principles.  In youth court programs, juvenile first offenders submit to the jurisdiction of the youth court and have their peers determine a disposition/sentence, guided by restorative justice principles The TYCP serves youth ages 13-18 statewide, and is charged with expanding the number of programs as well as providing the youth court communities with implementation and technical support.

Youth courts are model programs of the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).  Also, youth court programs are a best practice for reducing disproportionate minority contact (DMC). The Vanderbilt Center for Safe and Supportive Schools (S3) found youth courts a promising program for creating a nurturing school climate.