The Arizona Teen Court Association is supported by the Arizona Bar Foundation and the Arizona Supreme Court. The funding received from the Arizona Supreme Court involves building statewide communication across all the Teen Court groups; coordinating youth education opportunities; and providing a means to gather uniform data to aid in self assessments of individual Teen Court programs. The Arizona Supreme Court’s goals aligned to the program include:
- Center for evidence-based practices - Encouraging and supporting the educational needs of youth under court supervision is enhanced through the teen courts efforts to improve their delivery of service by sharing best practices and concerns.
- Communications with the public and education communities - Promoting civic education opportunities and partnering with others in the education community are both moved forward through the support of the Teen Court Association project.
Below are the Arizona Foundation's Goals outlined for the funding* received from the Arizona Supreme Court:
- Goal #1: Teen Courts throughout Arizona will be connected as a cadre of experts sharing ideas, tools and resources to build a strong network and strengthen each of the individual programs.
- Objective #1: Teen courts will have avenues of communication with one another through an email listserv and #800 line or webinar platform.
- Objective #2: Teen courts will have access to shared resources via the designated Teen Court section on the LawForKids.org website to expand their ability to share ideas and resources on a national level as well as statewide.
- Objective #3: Compiled caseload, characteristics and impact data for Arizona teen courts.
- Goal #2: Teen court staff and volunteer leaders will be trained, aware of best practices for service delivery, and provided materials as needed.
- Objective #1: Teen courts will have “court kits” updated/replenished.
- Objective #2: Teen court staff/leaders will learn evidence based practices through professional development webinar(s).
- Objective #3: Teen court leaders will prepare/plan/implement an annual summit gathering youth from across the state to learn law related education issues and teen court best practices.
- Goal #3: Foster civic education and engagement of youth to increase social and emotional well-being.
- Objective #1: Support the Arizona Teen Court Association’s annual Youth Summit through financial assistance, registration support and technical assistance.
*In addition to the funding from the Arizona Supreme Court, the Foundation contributes approximately $24k a year in in-kind to administering the Arizona Teen Court Association.
