By Donna McBride
Pinal County Juvenile Court has a volunteer opportunity for those who would like to contribute time to young people who are trying to repair the harm they have caused to their individual communities.
The Restorative Justice Panels involve community members working along-side court staff to hold youthful offenders personally responsible for their actions and to guide them toward repairing the harm they caused to victims and their community. This is done by having the family meet with community members to discuss their offense, what they are doing to make positive changes, how they will repair that harm and providing consequences.
Communities with Panels include Casa Grande, Coolidge, Florence, Eloy, Apache Junction, Maricopa, Queen Creek and the Tri-Community area. Each panel meets monthly in the evening with a time commitment averaging 2 hours.
Volunteers are required to go through a reference and fingerprint check as well as a Volunteer Orientation which are held on a quarterly basis. An orientation is scheduled for Saturday, April 18, 2009 from 9:30am – 11:30am in Florence. Registration is required.
If you are interested in getting involved in your community, please contact Donna McBride at 520-866-4098 or DMcBride@courts.az.gov.
