The Youth Commission Program is a diversionary, dispositional alternative for minor, first time juvenile offenders who commit misdemeanor or lower grade offenses. The Youth Commission Program is a group of volunteers whose purpose is to assist the Juvenile Court in the processing, disposition, and supervision of children between the ages of 10 and 18 who have been referred the Juvenile Court for the first time.
The Juvenile Probation Office does a thorough background check of all perspective volunteers and conducts training for them on a quarterly basis. Once a volunteer is accepted and suitably trained, they can begin supervising juveniles referred to the Youth Commission as a Community Probation Officer or CPO. The CPO is responsible to maintain contact with the juvenile and report the juvenile’s progress to the Youth Commission Coordinator. The CPO is required to have a minimum of one face to face contact a month.
A juvenile offender’s suitability for the Youth Commission is determined by the Youth Commission Coordinator. If a juvenile offender is deemed eligible by the Youth Commission Coordinator, the case is referred to the Youth Commission that operates within the school district in which the juvenile resides. The CPO’s then set up a meeting with the juvenile and his / her parent(s). With information gathered at this meeting, the CPO’s then set the terms and conditions of the juvenile’s probation. The CPO’s can also make referrals to various outside agencies to deal with such issues as substance abuse, mental health, or family counseling. The juvenile is placed on an Informal Adjustment Consent (an informal form of probation) for a period of six months and is supervised by one of the CPO’s. If the juvenile completes his / her six months successfully, then the JPO keeps no official record of their offense.
The overall goal is to keep juveniles from becoming involved with the Juvenile Court. To do that, we make the minor, first time juvenile offender accountable for his / her delinquent act. The object in holding the juvenile offender accountable is that it would discourage him / her from becoming involved in further delinquent activity. It is also hoped that the CPO could act as a sort of role model that the juvenile may be lacking. What the juvenile sees is an honest, hard working person who is succeeding in making a life for themselves who has a genuine interest in helping the juvenile make it through a tough time in their life. They are also given something that probably no one else has given them in their life; time and understanding.
The secondary, but no less important goal of the Program is to give individuals within a community an opportunity to engage in a constructive activity which will positively impact the lives of the young people who also reside within that same community with the ultimate goals being the reduction of crime and the improvement of the overall safety and quality of life for everyone within that community.
The Youth Commission is broken down into five (5) individual panels assigned to the various school districts within the County: Albert Gallatin, Brownsville, Connellsville, Laurel Highlands, and Uniontown.
The following is the names of the five individual Youth Commission Panels, their Chairpersons, meeting places and times:
Albert Gallatin
Chairperson: Susan Takach
Meeting place: Fairchance Borough Building
125 West Church Street
Fairchance, PA 15436
Meeting time: Third Monday of the month at 6:00 PM
Brownsville
Chairperson: Jane Emery
Meeting place: Brownsville Municipal Building
Second & High Streets, 2nd Floor
Brownsville, PA 15417
Meeting time: Second Wednesday of the month at 6:00 PM
Connellsville
Chairperson: Donna Moore
Meeting place: Connellsville Community Center
201 East Fairview Avenue, 1st Floor
Connellsville, PA 15425
Meeting time: Varies
Laurel Highlands
Chairperson: Lyn Andaloro
Meeting place: Juvenile Probation Office
First Floor – Federal Building
34 West Peter Street
Uniontown, PA 15401
Meeting time: First Tuesday of the month at 6:00 PM
Uniontown
Chairperson: Matthew Thomas
Meeting place: Juvenile Probation Office
First Floor – Federal Building
34 West Peter Street
Uniontown, PA 15401
Meeting time: First Monday of the month at 6:30 PM
Volunteer opportunities are available in all five Youth Commissions
Click Here to Join the Youth Commission