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.