NYP Hearing Procedure

• The Neighborhood Youth Panel Coordinator, a police officer, three to five Panel members, the youth and their parent, and the victim(s) are present at all hearings.
• The police report is read to the Panel and the participants.
• The youth, his/her parent and the victim(s) are given an opportunity to provide the Panel with additional information that is deemed relevant. The youth may not refute the charge - all youth participate voluntarily and have admitted their involvement. (If a youth refutes the charges, their NYP hearing is immediately concluded. The case is then returned to the Intake Unit for normal processing.) Panel members ask questions to any of the participants before making decisions on appropriate consequences/corrective action.
• The panel, after reaching consensus on conditions to assign, develop a written agreement to be signed by all participants at the end of the proceedings. This agreement includes all expectations and/or requirements of the youth with clear deadlines for completion of the assignments.
• A panel member/mentor is assigned to each youth for supervision of conditions assigned by the Panel. Mentor/Panel members report completion/noncompliance of assignments to the Coordinator within forty-five days of the panel hearing. Extension requests must be approved by the Panel Coordinator.
• Youth can request a reconsideration hearing if they are dissatisfied with the decision of the Panel. Requests for reconsideration must be made in writing to the Youth Panel Coordinator.
• Outcome of assignments/verification of completion will be documented in each youth's file.
• The Youth Panel Coordinator maintains statistics for assigned sanctions, outcome/compliance, and number of participants as well as other relevant statistics will be maintained.

Case Scenario:

A youth is taken into custody for a misdemeanor offense of breaking a neighbor's window. The complaint is diverted to the Neighborhood Youth Panel (NYP) by the community police. The youth, family and victim agree to have the case heard by the NYP. The NYP Coordinator schedules the hearing and identifies the Panelists to hear the complaint. The victim is invited to attend and give their input as to what they want to happen as a result of the hearing (restitution and reparation, etc.). The victim states that the window costs $65 to replace and it will cost $25 for the labor. The victim also states that the juvenile should apologize for not appearing to be sorry for breaking the window. The juvenile offender and parent(s) appear before the panel at a site in the community. A community police officer and the Coordinator are also present. The victim may be present to speak about the harm, loss or injury as a result of the offense. The juvenile offender and parent answer inquiries from the panelists about the offense, school and community life. The panelists caucus outside of the hearing room to discuss the case and recommend sanctions. The panelists return to the hearing and share the sanctions and rationale with the juvenile offender and parent. The Coordinator records the information. The youth and parent sign the copy of the written contract and are given a copy. Youth have 45 days to comply with the terms of the contract; one of the panelists and the Coordinator follow-up to ensure compliance. The Coordinator and/or panelists may help arrange mentoring, group sessions, individual and family counseling and any other services which may help prevent the juvenile offender from further irresponsible behavior. The sanctions are designed to make the juvenile accountable for the offense to realize the seriousness of their behavior and to make amends. Both the victim and the juvenile offender receive the needed attention and services.

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