Teen Court of Sarasota, Inc. is two-fold in our community: it gives first-time juvenile offenders a chance to right their wrongs while also developing local teens into local leaders. Initially started in 1988 as a Junior League project, Teen Court of Sarasota has expanded to serve more than 800 youths annually, providing all of them with a path away from the Department of Juvenile Justice and a chance to keep their records crime free.  Teen Court of Sarasota holds court in Sarasota, Venice, and North Port, in real courtrooms where teens are tried by a group of their peers. The attorneys, clerks, bailiffs, and the jury, are all teens who volunteer for a simple purpose: help teens make healthy choices through meaningful consequences, peer mentorship, and civic engagement.

Ella Collier, a West of the Trail Teen, has volunteered as an attorney for the last four years. She’s a Senior at Sarasota High School and is a member of Teen Court’s Youth Leadership Team—a group of teen volunteers who work to develop new and creative solutions for the issues facing Teen Court clients. Ella is also the Chair of the Youth Leadership Team’s fundraising committee, which recently hosted a Polo Day to raise funds to support Teen Court Sarasota.  

Teen Court Sarasota empowers the youth of this community. With a 90% success rate, the teens who come through Teen Court Sarasota learn from their mistakes, change their behaviors, and do not reoffend. This success is attributed to Teen Court’s holistic approach of providing its youth with individualized, wrap-around services, that create positive behavior changes, including life skills, healthy digital practices, mental health counseling, and substance abuse.

Unique to Teen Court is Camp X-RAYD—Examine Reality About Your Decisions, an experiential camp where participants are faced with the harsh truth and consequences of drug abuse. Teen Court also offers Teens Anonymous—a group that allows teen participants to share their struggles with drugs, strategies to stay clean amongst peer pressure, and learning to lean on each other for support and mentorship.

With two fundraisers around the corner, now is a great time to support Teen Court Sarasota’s efforts to help our local youth.  Teen Court’s annual scholarship dinner, which honors graduating seniors and the impact they’ve made in the community, is scheduled for March 5th at Michael’s on East. On April 25th, Teen Court is holding its annual golf tournament at the Meadows. To reserve your table or register your four-some, visit Teen Court’s website: www.sarasotateencourt.org  For volunteer opportunities, please contact CEO Heather Todd, heather@sarasotateencourt.org.