Teen Court Joins Child & Family Services

January 5, 2009

LANSING— Lansing Teen Court has merged with and become a program of Child & Family Services-Capital Area, agency officials announced today.
Teen Court provides juvenile justice diversion services to over 250 youth per year as referred by the Ingham County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and Circuit Court—Family Division. Youth charged with minor offenses appear before a jury of their peers, who determine how the youth can repair the harm caused to the victim and community, and what services the youth may need to achieve personal success. Once the youth completes the peer jury’s verdict, the court petition is dismissed and the youth does not incur a formal juvenile criminal record.

Teen Court joins an array of programs at Child & Family Services including adoption, foster care, independent living for youth aging out of foster care, family mental health counseling, adolescent substance abuse treatment, and children’s shelter and advocacy center (Angel House). The merger was finalized after several joint meetings and weeks of due diligence.

“We reached out to Child & Family Services because of their long and successful history serving the youth in our community, their talented management team, and the synergies that this merger portends,” said Teen Court Director Mike Botke. “All of our funding and referral sources are strongly supportive of this development.” Jim Paparella, Child & Family Services Executive Director, echoed that sentiment. “Bringing Teen Court under the CFS umbrella is a great fit for both agencies and was enthusiastically approved by our board of directors,” Paparella said. “We see this as a part of broader strategic vision to increase our capacity to serve vulnerable and at-risk populations in the mid-Michigan community.”

Nick Toodzio is Assistant Principal for Mason High School and serves on the advisory board for Teen Court. According to Toodzio, “Teen court provides ownership of our juvenile justice system among our community’s youth by allowing students to train in their classrooms and serve as peer jurors in a genuine courtroom setting. Teen Court provides restoration for our youthful offenders by educating them in street law, restorative justice, service learning, and family connections. These teens learn that the victims of their offenses are not limited to a single business or individual, but affect their families and the community as a whole." Teen Court’s offices will remain in their Cooley Law School location. The merger did not affect any staff changes.

For more information about Child & Family Services or any of the agency’s programs, call Mary Reed at (517) 882-4000 ext. 126.

Click here to download the press release in pdf: CFS Press Release