The number of teen courts nationwide grew from an estimated 50 programs in 1991 to between 400 and 500 programs in 1998. The Urban Institute of Washington, DC, is conducting the evaluation. This Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Fact Sheet summarizes the results of the survey.
Most teen courts have relatively small caseloads.
Forty-eight percent of the programs indicated that they received fewer than 100 referrals per year. Youth serve as attorneys, jurors, clerks, bailiffs, etc. Youth Judge-This is similar to the adult judge model, but a youth serves as judge. A jury is not used. The youth jury then questions the defendant directly.