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This page tells you about programs in your community. Most of these work
together with the Santa Clara County Juvenile
Probation Department.
- What is the Restorative Justice Program?
- What is the Victim-Offender Mediation Program?
- What is the Truancy Program?
- What is Fresh Lifelines for Youth, Inc. (F.L.Y.)?
- What is Project YEA (Youth Educational Advocates)?
- What are other Community Programs?
- What is the Modest Means Panel?
- How do I know if I can get free legal help?
- Legal aid links
- Other helpful links
- What is the Restorative Justice Program?
The Probation Department created this program to help kids who have
committed small crimes.
The program also has services to keep these kids and other at-risk minors
away from crime.
The program wants to:
- Keep these minors out of the juvenile justice system,
- Keep the community protected, and
- Have minors take responsibility for their actions
The Probation Department has programs in cities, school districts and
law enforcement agencies. They send minors who are under 18 to
“Neighborhood Accountability Boards” for lesser violations.
This means that they were taken to a juvenile center or given a
citation
for:
- Shoplifting
- Trespassing
- Vandalism
- Small property crimes
- Small drug crimes and
- Simple assault
and
battery
The Neighborhood Accountability Board is made up of people from the
community. They are in charge of holding the minor responsible for
breaking the law. The Board meets with the minor and the parents and
decides what the minor has to do to fix what they did.
There are 13 Neighborhood Accountability Boards in the county, from Gilroy
in the south to Los Altos in the north.
- What is the Victim-Offender Mediation Program?
This program brings together victims and minors who commit crimes.
They try to get them to agree on restitution. Both sides meet with a mediator
to reach a
settlement.
This gives the victim a chance to meet the minor face to face. The minor
gets to see how they have affected the victim.
The program also helps with family mediation and parent-teen conferences.
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- What is the Truancy Program?
The DA’s Office started our truancy program in 1994. The school
districts asked for help enforcing the education codes.
The codes
say that every student from 6 to 18 years old has to go to school every
day and be on time. A truant is a student who:
- Misses school more than 3 times without an excuse, or
- Is more than 30 minutes late more than 3 times, or
- Any combination of these two things.
A habitual truant is a student who:
- Misses school more than 6 times without an excuse, or
- Is more than 30 minutes late more than 6 times, or
- Any combination of these two things, and
- The school tried to have at least one meeting with the student and
their parent/guardian.
The Truancy Program trains school district employees on how to help
truant children. After they know what the problem is, the school meets
with the family and minor. They try to solve the problem and help the
family find help in the community.
The school district and DA’s office try to identify the problem in
elementary school. They want to stop a child from missing school before it
becomes a habit. This can even be a problem as early as kindergarten and
1st grade.
The Truancy Program also has mediation. The school asks families that need
help to go to mediation. The Truancy Program Director and a panel of
people from the community meet with several families. School officials
from the families’ schools also go to the meeting to talk to the parents.
They remind the parents they are legally responsible for sending their
kids to school. And they tell them what will happen if they don’t follow
the law. The community panel can direct the family to help in the
community. The school officials from the minors’ school can meet with
parents one on one at the end of the meeting. If the problem doesn’t get
better, they send the parents to the School Attendance Review Board (SARB).
SARB is made up of:
- School counselors
- The Juvenile Probation Department
- Community organizations
- Law enforcement agencies, and
- Health agencies
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The Board meets with families to figure out what is going on with the
family. At the end of the meeting, the parents and children sign a
contract with the school district. They will also tell the parents where
they can get help in the community.
If the parents don’t obey the SARB contract, they can be tried in court.
But this is the last resort. What the community wants is to get the child
to go to school. When nothing else works, the
case
goes to the District Attorney’s Office so charges can be filed against the
parents.
The DA
charges the parents with breaking
Section 48293 of the Education Code.
This means they didn’t obey the law that says they have to send their
children to school. This is an infraction.
The case will be heard in the Juvenile Delinquency Department of the
Superior Court.
If the parents fight (contest)
the charges, they can have a court
trial. If they are found guilty,
they can receive a
fine
of up to $500. They may have to take parenting classes. The judge can make
the parents come back to court to make sure the kids are going to school.
If parents don’t do what the court orders them to do, and if their child
continues to miss school, the DA will file other, more serious, charges.
The charge is called “contributing to the delinquency of a minor”. It is a misdemeanor.
The case will be in the Criminal
Court. If the parents are found guilty, they can receive a $2,500 fine and
go to jail for 1 year. If the parents are placed on
probation,
the Court can order them to do certain things.
If the student is in high school, the school district focuses on the
child. They can send the teen to the Neighborhood Accountability Board.
Or, they can send them to the Juvenile Traffic Hearing Officer. The
Hearing Officer can keep the teen from getting a driver’s license for 1
year. If the teen agrees to go to school, the Hearing Officer may hold off
telling the DMV. They only get this chance once.
- What is the Fresh Lifelines for Youth Program (F.L.Y.)?
F.L.Y. helps children who break the law for the first-time. The
program tries to "lower juvenile violence and juvenile crime by building
competencies in youth to help them be more responsible, accountable and
able to make healthier lifestyle choices."
Most of the children they help are between 12 and 17 years old. Probation
officers, Neighborhood Accountability Boards, the Courts, school
officials, community organizations and parents can send kids to F.L.Y.
F.L.Y. is located at:
120 W. Mission St.
San Jose, CA 95110
(408) 504-5705
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F.L.Y. has 3 programs to help young people:
- Law-related education (LRE):
This program teaches young people about the law. It tells them what
happens if they break the law. It also teaches them how to solve
problems and communicate.
They act out situations and have mock debates, trials, and city council
hearings. Lawyers, judges, police officers and probation officers come
to talk.
This program is mostly for 1st and 2nd time juvenile offenders. The
child meets with a facilitator 2 hours a week for 1 year, once a week
for 15 weeks. This can be part of their probation or a contract with
their schools or law enforcement.
F.L.Y. speaks at middle schools and high schools. They also train
teachers and community members who want to start their own LRE programs
and give them technical help.
- Mentoring Program:
F.L.Y. puts young people in contact with adults who work with them to
help them change their goals, attitude, and how they act. The mentors
meet with the kids at least 2-3 hours a week for 1 year. They also take
the minor to a F.L.Y. activity at least once a month.
Every mentor has to pass a strict screening, background check and
reference check. They have 12 hours of training. Then more training
every month.
- F.L.Y. helps children and families get social
services and lawyers.
F.L.Y. connects families with a lot of different services like:
- Legal help
- Parent education
- Counseling
- Help with drugs and alcohol
- Help getting a job
- Help with emancipation
- Tattoo removal
- Help with immigration, and
- Help for young people whose parents are in jail.
- What is the Educational Rights Project: Youth Education Advocates
(Project YEA)?
To find out more, call:
Juvenile Probation Project Coordinator
(408) 278-6066, or
Social Service Agency Educational Services Coordinator
(408) 975-5488
Kids with learning disabilities have problems growing up. 35% of them drop
out of school and get in trouble within 2 years. 60% of teens in drug
treatment have a learning disability.
Half of the minors in detention can get special education. In the Santa
Clara Juvenile Hall, 30% need special education. If they were all tested,
probably another 20% would qualify.
A lot of agencies joined together to start the Education Rights Project.
The project gets special education for minors in the system. The goals of
this project are to:
- Train social workers and probation officers. And help
them find the children who need special services.
- Make sure that kids get tested for disabilities. And
that they get the services they need.
- Teach parents and other caregivers that they can ask to
have their kids tested. They also teach them how to figure out what
services they need.
A big part of the Educational Rights Project is Project YEA. YEA helps
parents and guardians by training people who help the parents get the best
public education for their children.
Project YEA will:
- Check if a child can get special education and testing.
- Meet with probation officers or social workers, the
child and the parents.
- Meet with the teachers and watch the child in school.
- Go to the child’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP)
meeting;
- Help the child and their parents try to solve problems;
and
- Keep an eye on the child’s education plan. And make sure
they are getting the services they need.
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- What other community programs are there?
There are some minors who don’t break the law, but what they do makes
their parents and the community worry. The law says this behavior can be
considered hurtful to himself and society.
These minors are called “status offenders”. An example of a status
offender is a child who:
- Runs away from home
- Doesn’t go to school
- Is out of control, or
- Breaks curfew.
Right now only a few communities have services to help parents with
troubled teens. Santa Clara County is taking steps to provide more
services by creating the Status Offender Services (SOS) Task Force. The
Task Force is made up of different people from the community. It will make
an action plan for a system of care for this county.
Here is a list of places to get help in Santa Clara County. There might be
other places to get help, but these are well-known.
-
Alum Rock Counseling Center (ARCC)
1245 E. Santa Clara St.,
San Jose, CA 95110
(408) 294-0500
www.alumrockcc.org
Hotline: (408) 294-0579, or
1-877-SOSARCC (7 days a week, 24 hours a day)
ARCC has a lot of affordable programs and services for minors and
families. They help them have and keep healthy lives. It’s mostly for
kids from 11-17 years old. There are ARCC services for younger children,
but they have to be referred. ARCC takes in runaways. They will help
them find temporary housing. They also offer:
- Youth and Family Services - Low cost counseling and support
groups. For kids, teens, families and couples. In English, Spanish and
Vietnamese.
- Victims of Violent Crimes - Long-term counseling. For
victims of rape, incest and assault.
- School-Based Programs - Counseling for at-risk students.
Counselors work with the school to help students succeed.
- Mobile Response Unit - A 24-hour moving crisis intervention
service. Helps runaways and troubled young people and their families
solve fights. They answer calls from anywhere in the county.
- Homeless Youth Outreach - A lot of different services like
counseling, help with jobs, legal help, case management, and street
outreach for homeless youth.
- Independent Living Skills Program - Helps young people,
18-26 years old, who are leaving foster care, find a place to live.
- Family Wellness - 8-10 week program. Teaches families how
to deal with family issues and fights. Role-playing is part of the
program.
- HIV/AID Prevention and Education Program - Recruits and
trains high-risk kids to be Health Promoters. Then the kids teach
formal and informal HIV education and prevention to other kids.
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- Bill Wilson Center
3490 The Alameda,
Santa Clara, CA, 95050
(408) 243-0222
www.billwilsoncenter.org
Bill Wilson Center helps families stick together. And, it helps young
people solve problems and build self-esteem. They offer these services:
Go to the Bill Wilson Center website to get tips for parents who are
having problems with their children.
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- Catholic Charities
2625 Zanker Rd.,
San Jose, CA 95134-2107
(408) 468-0100
http://ccsj.org/
Catholic Charities has a lot of different services for everyone,
including young people and their families. They offer:
- Youth Empowered for Success (YES)
(408) 283-6150
- Services and activities for Latino and Vietnamese kids, young
adults, parents and families.
- After-school programs to talk about gangs, skipping school,
pregnancy and dating violence.
- Job training, ESL, parent education.
- Spanish and Vietnamese radio talk shows every week. The show
talks about important issues for young people and their families.
- Children’s Counseling Center (CCC)
(408) 944-0469
Services for kids who are very emotionally disturbed, at-risk, not
living with their parents or victims of child abuse.
- Community Solutions
6980 Chestnut Street
Gilroy, CA 95020
Hotline: (408) 842-7138
www.communitysolutions.org
Community Solutions was founded as a teen drop-in center in the southern
end of Santa Clara County. They have programs for:
- Kids and teens in foster care,
- Teen parents,
- Kids who are abused and neglected,
- Young people in the juvenile justice system,
- Homeless kids,
- Kids from dysfunctional families, and
- Parenting classes
- Mobile Crisis Response - Answers calls 24
hours a day, 7 days a week. They help kids and families in crisis:
- Figure out what they need,
- Tell them where else to get help, and
- Give them counseling.
- Walk-in service – Support for anyone in
crisis. They’ll tell you where to get help, like:
- Food,
- Shelter,
- Drug and alcohol treatment,
- How to solve fights,
- Suicide counseling and
- Help for parents with out of control kids.
- Outpatient counseling and case management –
Free counseling for a short time. For individuals, groups, families
and young people. Talk about how to deal with anger, drugs and alcohol
and life skills.
- Emergency housing – A temporary place to live
for kids from 11 to 17, who are at risk, have run away or are out of
control.
- Other services for parents and kids:
- Parent education and support
- Programs for teen parent
- Youth leadership
- Mental health services
- Support in your home
- Juvenile justice programs
- After-school services
- Drug abuse programs
- Independent living skills
- Youth intervention program (for young people in gangs)
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- Mexican American Community Service Agency (MACSA)
130 No. Jackson Ave.
San Jose, CA 95116
(408) 928-1122
http://www.macsa.org/
- Alviso Youth Center
1585 Liberty Ave.
Alviso, CA 95002
(408) 942-6633
- East San Jose Youth Center
660 Sinclair Dr.
San Jose, CA 95116
(408) 929-1080
- El Toro Youth Center
17620 Crest Dr.
Morgan Hill CA 95037
(408) 779-6002
- Gilroy Community Youth Center
7400 Railroad St.
Gilroy, CA 95020
(408) 847-4686
- MACSA
451 Lewis St.
Gilroy, CA 95020
(408) 847-2425
MACSA has a lot of programs for the Latino community. They focus on
social, money, health and education needs. These are some of the
programs for young people and families:
- Eagle Warrior Athletics - For kids from 6
to18. Sports and training to give kids:
- Basic athletic skills,
- Cultural awareness, and
- Self-esteem
- Eagle Warrior Recreation - For kids from 6 to18.
- Game room activities & tournaments,
- Arts and crafts,
- Baking,
- Movie days,
- Field trips, and
- Learning programs
- Friday/Saturday Night Jams - Different positive fun
activities.
- Teatro Familia Aztlan - Helps young people be artistic
and learn acting. They put on plays and tour Bay Area schools &
youth centers.
- Zero Drop Out Youth Academy - For kids from 8 to 11.
After-school programs to help kids do better in school. Tutors
kids, has learning activities and builds self-esteem. Parents can
go to meetings every month.
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- What Is the Modest Means Panel?
If you have a legal problem but don’t make a lot of money, the
Modest Means Panel will connect you with a lawyer that doesn’t
charge a lot.
They will help you find a lawyer for these types of cases:
- Bankruptcy
- Consumer
- Criminal
- Family
- Immigration
- Juvenile
- Landlord/Tenant
To learn more, call (408) 971-6822.
They are open Monday – Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Or, go to their website at: www.sccba.com.
- How do I know if I can get free legal
help?
If you qualify, you can get free legal help from the National
Legal Services Corporation (like the Legal Aid Society and Legal
Services Foundation).
If you are
accused
of a crime and you can’t pay for a lawyer, ask for free help. Ask
the Court to refer you to the Public Defender's Office at your
first court hearing.
To learn more, call the Public Defender's Office at:
(408) 299-7700.
Free legal services for qualified people are available from the National Legal Services Corporation (e.g., Legal Aid Society and Legal Services Foundation). People
accused of a crime who cannot afford an attorney may request or apply for free help from the Public Defender's Office. If you think you qualify,
you may request a referral to the Public Defender's Office when you make your first court appearance. For further information, you may contact the Public Defender's Office in Santa Clara County at: (408) 299-7700.
- Local Legal Aid links
- Other helpful links
For more help:
- Check the
Juvenile Dependency Resources page for lists of agencies helping
families.
- Check the Probate Resources
page for links to agencies that help with a wide range of issues,
including disabilities (Attention Deficit Disorder, mental illness, etc.),
alcohol and drug abuse, job training, housing and more.
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