Kobe Marshall had a stubborn streak. When he was 16, he was found, along with several others, in the boyβs bathroom at school smoking marijuana.
Marshall said he wasnβt smoking, but he had some marijuana that he intended to smoke after school, and was charged with possession.
Marshall had two options: A year of probation or spend 90 days with the Community Justice Board, a Pima County diversion program that would wipe his record clean.
Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall created the board in 1998. It has served over 6,000 youth and continues to grow. The 19th location and 11th community justice board will be established in Vail on Oct. 24.
βIt was (LaWallβs) vision to have community members address juvenile crime within their neighborhoods,β said Trevor Edwards, a board coordinator. A board is made up of a team of five to seven volunteers that use βrestorative justice as opposed to traditional justice to hold youth accountable for their crimes.β
Recently, Edwards said, there has been a surge in crimes related to vaping, as well as possession of THC oil cartridges and other marijuana-related offenses. Other citations include alcohol possession; theft or shoplifting; vandalism; online assault; drug paraphernalia found at schools; threats and intimidation; and sexting. Offenses handled by the boards must be nonviolent.
Since Marshall was a first-time juvenile offender, the board offered diversion as an option. When he entered the program, the charge on his record was marked as pending. And for those who complete the program, the boards show a 5% recidivism rate.
Thereβs an initial hour-long session where board members get to know the youth, the reasons for their offense and the family dynamic. Parents or guardians are required to be at all meetings. That is followed by bimonthly sessions called family conferences, which are 30 minutes long.
βThe parents have a big part of this. Weβll ask the parents about any improvements they want to see in their child, and weβll ask the youth what improvements they want to see in themselves,β said Edwards.
Parents report positive feedback and βkids generally respond really well,β said Edwards.
Post-program evaluations indicate a 98% satisfaction rate from parents, and over a 90% success rate from youths.
The board will make assignments or consequences for the youth, which are required to be completed for graduation from the program. Assignments can include everything from family fun days, apology letters, educational programs, empowerment groups and building a resume to services like counseling or tutoring.
βWe try to make all (consequences) individualized and we try to get as creative as we can,β said Edwards, who was on Marshallβs board. βWeβre going to identify what their strengths are, what their skills are and take that and incorporate it to whatever the assignment is or the consequence that theyβre getting.β
While Marshall, now 18, was in the program, he had to write an apology letter to his mom and the school, make a research powerpoint on marijuana and do community service as consequences.
However, Marshall never completed the program. He stopped regularly attending meetings about a month into the program, saying, βI got lazy.β
βWhen someone tells me what to do something, I do the opposite,β said Marshall, who is among the 6% of youths who donβt complete the program.
Feeling helpless, his mom, Lisa Cotner-Hudson, became a board volunteer.
βI kind of feel like I couldnβt help my son,β said Cotner-Hudson. βI wanted to help teens that were going through the same thing he is or have a safe place to come and open up and not feel like theyβre being judged.β
For the most part, Cotner-Hudson, 45, said she fulfills that goal, but there are always a few kids that are more difficult. Some just βgo through the motions,β and then there are others that truly learn from their mistakes.
βYou have to know the players. You have to know whatβs going to motivate them, whatβs not going to motivate them, how to get through to them,β said Cotner-Hudson. βMy board that Iβm on now, I think we do a really good job of that.β
Her board is made up of people of all ages, professions and personalities, βso we all interact very wellβ when it comes to individualizing consequences, she said.
All of the volunteers must commit to the boards for at least a year, but βvolunteers stick around for a lot longer,β said Edwards. Volunteers will see around 20 to 25 families per year, and in one night, sit down with five to seven.
For volunteers, thereβs an application and interview process, fingerprinting and background checks, and orientation and trainings. Many volunteers are college students, or of that age, said Edwards. Theyβre current professionals, retired professionals, and always a mix of ages and ethnicities.
βItβs an eye opener of what my son was going through and what other teens today go through,β said Cotner-Hudson. She said the boards are a better alternative to the traditional justice system.
βSome kids really do learn from it. Just this one time shouldnβt be held against them,β she said. βWe do let them know, though, if they do screw up again, they donβt get to come back to diversion.β
Unfortunately, Marshall wasnβt able to come back.
βThe fact that he didnβt take it seriously, he learned the hard way,β said Cotner-Hudson. βHe learned the hard way that not finishing diversion cost him a lot more in the long run because he ended up going back to probation.β
His opportunity for a clean record turned into more than a year of probation, a day in juvenile detention, endless drug tests, progress reports, an extra year of high school (which he does online), and some time stuck in an ankle bracelet on house arrest.
Marshall said regrets not finishing the program.
βI would have got this all out of the way,β Marshall said, adding that heβs glad itβs all in the past. βIβd say Iβm not as stubborn as I used to be.β