New Haven Independent

The program, based onthe philosophy of “Balanced And Restorative Justice,” was announced to a group of aldermen Wednesday night by representatives from Community Mediation and New Haven Family Alliance.

Each board will have seven panelists: three government officials and four members of the community. According to Charles Pillsbury of Community Mediations, the government representatives will come from the Department of Children and Families, which will provide funding for the program, New Haven Public Schools, and the police department. The community members will be volunteers. Pillsbury said it is important that the community members outnumber the bureaucrats on each panel.

The board hopes to hear 200 cases a year, with two full time case workers handling a new batch of young people every month. They said they hope to begin hearing cases by July of this year.

Barbara Tinney of the Family Alliance said Juvenile Review Boards have existed in suburban Connecticut towns for over 30 years.

“I’m ready for this,” said Bishop Woods Alderman Gerald Antunes, a former youth services coordinator for the New Haven police department. He said there was a time the department prided itself on catching kids and making arrests, but that those policies promote recidivism — the phenomenon of people getting pulled back into the criminal justice system after their release.

Westville Alderman Sergio Rodriguez said he was concerned the goal of getting 100 volunteers is too ambitious.

“This seems very human labor intensive,” Rodriguez said. He asked if they would consider scaling back the number of volunteers.

“I think folks in our community are looking for avenues and ways to be engaged in young peoples lives,” Tinney said. “So three or four months from now I’m going to be talking to you, Sergio, about the 250-300 people we have volunteering.”

An official announcement to the press is scheduled for June 20 in front of the Church on the Rock. Two volunteer training sessions will be held on June 26 and June 28. For more information about volunteering for the Juvenile Review Board, call Barbara Tinney or Shirley Ellis West at 530-2486, or Charlie Pillsbury at 782-3504.