November, 2007
MSBA HELPS
YOUTH-AT-RISK
Helping youth-at-risk is one of MSBA President Alison L. Asti’s top initiatives
this year. Asti wants to “prevent the lives of first-time juvenile offenders
from slipping off course.” Thus, MSBA’s President wants to expand Teen Court,
the public service project supported by MSBA volunteer lawyers and judges, into
a statewide initiative that assists youth-at-risk in all corners of the state.
Teen Court, an early-intervention project, now gives first-time juvenile
offenders an alternative to the juvenile justice system in 10 counties across
Maryland and, in the last 10 years, has diverted over 6,500 juvenile offenders
from the path of a hardened criminal to one of hope for a more positive future.
To oversee this effort, Asti has created a special MSBA “Youth-At-Risk”
Committee co-chaired by Susan Leviton and Dawna Cobb. Working closely with
MSBA’s Citizenship Law-Related Education Program in Maryland Schools (CLREP),
this Committee will lead MSBA’s effort to expand Teen Court and divert juvenile
offenders from a life of crime.