THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, April 22, 1996 TAG: 9604220039
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 188 lines
Like most 13-year-olds, Raynard Brown didn't know much about neighborhood civic leagues - until he got into a fight on the school bus.
Soon he was a helping the Bromley Civic League - hanging decorations for a community dinner, picking up trash on a church lawn and setting up tables for the neighborhood's spring bazaar.
In Bayview, Elizabeth ``Alex'' Jacobson, 14, also knew little about neighborhood civic leagues. Then she was caught carrying a pocketknife to school.
Jacobson was assigned to community service with the Bayview Civic League. Her work included a variety of chores at the neighborhood recreation center, under the supervision of Bobby Poole.
Brown and Jacobson are among 73 juvenile first-time offenders who've participated in the Norfolk Juvenile Court's Civic League Community Service Program.
The new program aims to be a way for minor lawbreakers to pay their ``debt to society,'' often without having a court conviction on their records.
But it's also something more: It teaches the teens to see themselves as part of - and accountable to - the broader community.
For example, Jacobson says she's learned the consequences of getting into trouble, but she's also begun thinking of herself as someone who can make a contribution.
``I've never done anything for the public like this. It makes me feel that I'm a better person now,'' she said on a recent Saturday morning while raking the grounds of the Bayview Recreation Center.
Because she likes the feeling of contributing, Jacobson said, she volunteers at the rec center well beyond her 12-hour requirement. She also chaperones younger children and helps set up activities for senior citizens.
``I didn't understand why I enjoyed it at first, but now I do. I enjoy the fact that I'm helping out,'' she said.
It's more than being a volunteer. There's also a feeling of being genuine, ``that I am actually doing what I say I'm going to do,'' Jacobson said. ``I enjoy the fact that I'm not just kind of leading someone on by saying, `I'm going to do something.' I am doing something.''
Assigning young lawbreakers to work with neighborhood groups is part of an emerging nationwide trend toward ``restorative justice,'' said Kevin J. Moran, Norfolk court services director.
The approach, he said, tries to link punishment with active ways that an offender can repair the damage caused to individuals or communities. In some programs, victims choose the community work or personal service required of youthful lawbreakers.
Sometimes offenders must write apologies to victims and essays about the consequences of crime.
``We're talking about giving kids the opportunity to make things right, to make amends for the harm that they cause,'' Moran said. ``It sets up a better opportunity for rehabilitation.''
The programs often are coupled with classes like Norfolk's ``Street Law.'' There, the teens discuss community problems and learn about making choices, controlling anger and resolving conflicts without violence.
``A lot of kids don't believe they could make a change in their lives. These programs really give kids a sort of jump start,'' said Susan Inman, coordinator of the program.
Moran can't point to any statistics that prove the long-term effectiveness of community service. But he says only two or three teens assigned to civic leagues had to be removed from the program.
The civic league community service program grew from an idea by Ernie Edwards, president of the Ghent Neighborhood League.
Most juvenile offenders, Edwards said, ``aren't aware of the impact'' their actions have on themselves and their communities. Last year, he met with Moran and Norfolk Juvenile Court Judge William P. Williams to ask that some young law-breakers be turned over to civic leagues for community projects.
``The kids were in our neighborhood already. We wanted to make sure they were aware of how they were impacting us'' and ``that there are consequences for that,'' Edwards said.
``It gets the kids out into the community and shows some tangible terms for paying society back,'' Williams said. ``It's good for the kids because it sort of reinforces their responsibilities. It's also good for the community because it gives the community a chance to see that action is being taken.''
Moran said the more he thought about it, the more possibilities he saw for addressing other nagging issues about juvenile crime.
``There just seems to be, more and more, a lack of remorse,'' Moran said. ``This is where this restorative justice really could facilitate rehabilitation, if we can get a kid to understand'' the impact of crime on victims and a community.
``I don't think they're cold hearted,'' Moran said of many youthful offenders. ``I think they're desensitized to the victims. They see so much (crime) on TV.''
Restorative justice ``won't work with all of them, obviously,'' Moran said. ``But with some kids, it will bring them more in touch with how what they did hurt another human being. If we can get them to think like that, we're well on our way to getting it not to happen again.''
That's Moran's hope, even for the teens who say they were glad to get community service merely because it saved them from going to a detention center. And there are some, such as Mike Woodlief of Ocean View, who say they like the work because it keeps them away from trouble, at least for a little while.
Also, assigning kids to work with civic leagues, Moran said, exposes the teens to more adults who care deeply about their communities, who turn words into good deeds.
Teens assigned to Bromley see how a neighborhood group helps elderly residents with chores or delivers meals to shut-ins.
``It feels good because you're helping the world instead of making it worse,'' Reynard Brown said about his work in Bromley.
Some teens continue assisting their communities, through civic leagues or other volunteer work.
Tanya Moscoffian, 14, said she enjoyed helping to produce the Bromley Civic League's monthly newsletter. She'd like to continue.
Parents also appreciate the civic league community service program, especially when coupled with classes on values and making choices.
``I personally love the program. I think it helps the child learn to make choices, because that's what they need to know the way the world is now,'' said Carrie Herbert, whose son, Samuel, was assigned to the Bromley Civic League after being caught shoplifting.
Debee Pulley, the mother of Tanya Moscoffian, likes the emphasis on helping others. ``Too many kids nowadays are into `I want' rather than `I'll give,' '' she said.
She also likes the program because it gives young lawbreakers ``a chance to redeem themselves. It gives punishment without giving them a record, so they feel they haven't blown it.''
Community service instead of a trial pleases many parents.
``I was very upset when they called me'' after her daughter was caught shoplifting, Pulley recalled. ``I was like, `I can't believe this!' We had just bought a house, and I was thinking, `How can we afford a lawyer to go to court?' ''
Ruth Brown, mother of Reynard Brown, said the program keeps teens busy instead of having idle time for more trouble or being sentenced to detention homes ``where they can come out meaner.''
So far, nine Norfolk neighborhoods participate in the program. Several more plan to be.
In Diggs Town, Roberts Village and Moton Circle, police officers Rick James and Evelyn Douglas supervise the offenders.
James, Diggs Town community resource officer, has worked with six offenders, five of whom he arrested. The work includes removing litter from playgrounds and common areas.
``It's a way for them to show ownership and responsibility for what they've done,'' James said. ``It's an opportunity for them to show that they can be trusted.''
A side benefit, James said, is that the offenders who do community service often get neighbors to stop littering. ``They know the people who are throwing trash down. So they tell them, `Hey, I have to pick that up,' '' the policeman said.
Some even have recruited friends to help. ``One Saturday, there were five people out there, but only one of them was in the program,'' James said. ``The guy had gotten his buddies to come out.''
The neighborhood community service programs also have generated similar efforts for kids not charged with crimes but who have misbehaved in other ways.
The Bayview Civic League created ``Back on Track'' for kids who break good-conduct rules at the community center. By doing chores and attending a neighborhood version of ``Street Law'' classes, the youths can avoid having their recreation privileges revoked.
``It's getting the message out to kids without preaching to them. It's not a preachy thing. The kids do most of the talking,'' said John Roger, president of the Bayview Civic League. He leads the program with his wife, Virginia.
``Back on Track'' recently ``graduated'' its first group of 11 youngsters and held a party for the kids and their parents. Pizzas were donated by two local restaurants. MEMO: Related story also on page B1.
CIVIC LEAGUE COMMUNITY SERVICE
Neighborhoods involved in Norfolk Juvenile Court's Civic League
Community Service Program are Bayview, Bromley, Coronado, Diggs Town,
Ghent, Lenox, Moton Circle, Roberts Village and Roosevelt Gardens.
So far, 73 of the juvenile offenders ordered to do community service
projects have been assigned to the civic leagues.
In many cases, the teens also must attend Norfolk's ``Street Law''
program, which includes classes on values, choices, anger control and
non-violent conflict resolution.
For more information about the neighborhood community service
program, call Kevin Moran or Mildred Stokes at 664-7600.
ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by HUY NGUYEN, The Virginian-Pilot
Raynard Brown, 13, helps the Bromley Civic League as restitution for
getting into a fight on his school bus. ``It feels good because
you're helping the world instead of making it worse,'' Brown said
about his work in Bromley.
KEYWORDS: JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM JUVENILE DELINQUENTS
JUVENILE CRIMINALS CRIME VICTIMS
COMMUNITY SERVICE by CNB