2009 Annual Report - Belknap County

2009 Belknap County Youth Services Annual Report
2009 was an exciting year for the Restorative Justice Program and the Youth
Services Bureau. The two agencies began discussing and laid the groundwork
for merging at the beginning of 2010. The new name “Belknap County Youth
Services” recognizes the rich 30-year history of the Youth Services Bureau of
helping youth and families brings to the merger. The merger is a cost effective
way to bring the services of both agencies together and to provide a more efficient
and streamlined referral process.
The merger also has produced a volunteer base from both programs that will allow
us to help youth and families. A goal of the Belknap County Youth services
will be finding a way to better organize and utilize our volunteers.
Our volunteers continue to be very generous with their time and are always there
to help the youth or the program when we need them. Our volunteers are a tremendous
asset to the Program by helping victims of crime, juvenile offenders and
being involved in community service projects. Our volunteers are why we can do
so much in the community and keep our costs low.
In 2009 there were 59 new referrals made to the court diversion program. The
youth completed 1,318 hours of community service and the program collected
$935 in restitution for victims.
The Court Diversion Program allows victims and the community to speak freely
about how crime affects them. It strengthens the juvenile offender’s relationship
with the community. Our program allows the juvenile to see the damage caused
by their crime and lets them openly apologize for their actions. We are looking
forward to another year of working with victims of crime, juvenile offenders, and
the community to repair the harm caused by crime.
Our Court Diversion Program uses community service as a way of holding juveniles
accountable for what they have done and as a way of repairing the harm
caused by their crime. We are always looking for meaningful community service
projects. Meaningful community service projects are either restorative to the victim
or the community, allows the juvenile to have a positive interaction with his/
her community, teaches the juvenile a new skill or builds a positive relationship
with an adult.
38 2009 Annual Report