Community Justice Time Banks
The purpose of this page is to briefly introduce a project, a Time Bank Youth Court which involves the community in applying restorative justice, addressing wrongs and helping young people succeed. In addition, I would like to meet with you to present examples of successful time bank youth courts and to see what we can do to start a time bank youth court in the Mahoning Valley.
I am the CEO/ Coordinator of Time Bank Mahoning Watershed. We are a non-profit organization which has been operating for three years. Our purpose is to build community through reciprocity and you can see more of what we do from our website at http://www.tbmw.org.
Here are links to two time bank based youth courts: Time Dollar Youth Court and Dane County Time Bank Youth Court
Time Bank Youth Courts are similar to peer youth courts and create opportunities for youth to avoid the formal juvenile justice system by appearing before their peers and completing sentencing activities. The primary advantage of a time bank-based youth court is that it provides a structure for young people to remain engaged beyond their formal participation by earning credits for activities and items that enhance learning, recreational, and economic opportunities. Time banking provides learning and leadership development and supports an atmosphere of mutual accountability among teens. Watch first hand accounts from teens
Time bank youth courts can work only with the endorsement by law enforcement, juvenile justice professionals, teachers, school administration, social service agencies and families. Thanks, in advance, for your consideration of this request. Please let me know if you should have any questions at this point or would like any additional information. Click here to contact Tony Budak.
Build Community Justice
Reduce the number of youth who enter the juvenile justice system
and engage youth in productive, community-building activities.
Lets create Time Bank Youth Courts
in our Mahoning Valley High Schools.
Join our Community Justice campaign,
drop me an email, CLICK TonyBudak
FYI from Youth Court: A Path to Civic Engagement
September 2003
“The kind of education and service provided by youth court is more important than ever. A recent report by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement and the Carnegie Corporation of New York (2003) reveals that “increasing numbers of Americans have disengaged from civic and political institutions such as voluntary associations, religious congregations, community based organizations, and political and electoral activities such as voting and being informed about public issues (p. 4).”
The report goes on to say that young people reflect these trends. “…They are less likely to vote and are less interested in political discussion and public issues than either their older counterparts or young people of past decades (p. 4).” This profile hardly describes a generation that can be relied upon to serve as judicious jurors, informed voters, responsible drivers, compassionate volunteers, or concerned citizens — the very fiber of our communities.
Youth court plays an important role in reversing this trend by engaging youth as stakeholders in important issues that affect their peers and community and by providing opportunities to directly experience what it feels like to be viably engaged citizens, making a difference in their communities."
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Do We Need Time Bank Youth Courts?
Salvaging Throw-away Juveniles
The reason why people (kids and adults) aren't constructively involved in their communities' justice issues is that there are not enough opportunities to practice civic engagement.
Here are Two Community Justice Examples:
Time Dollar Youth Court
Dane County Time Bank Youth Court