Accountability Board

The Community Accountability Board (CAB) process is a unique research based concept in working with juvenile offenders outside of the court.  The design is actually two programs in one.  First, it is a means of holding minor and first time offenders directly accountable for their own delinquent acts within their own communities.  Second, it provides needed services to youth offenders.  Through the combination of community accountability and youth services, we hope to provide a comprehensive alternative to meet the individual needs of each juvenile offender.  It is hoped through this process that the community can impress upon the youth the connection between his/her behavior and the effects on him/herself and the community.  Consequently the board can serve as a positive influence on the youth’s future behavior.

The Accountability process is designed to keep the juvenile offenders from becoming repeat offenders by working with the CAB’s.  Juveniles may be offered the opportunity to enter into a Diversion Agreement in lieu of prosecution.  They will then meet with the CAB to discuss suitable consequences based on the juvenile’s age, the seriousness of the offense, and the juvenile’s criminal history.

CAB’s are made up of Kalispel Tribal and community members within the Kalispel Reservation.  Juveniles appear before the CAB and upon entering into a Diversion Agreement, may be required to do one or more of the following conditions:

Perform non-compensated community/cultural service work for Elders and/or Tribe as a way of “paying back” the community, and/or make restitution to victims for actual damages, and/or pay a fine, and/or attend counseling, educational or informational sessions and submit to U/A’s.  In addition, CAB’s may impose a variety of behavioral conditions (e.g. school and residence requirements, curfew, no contact orders, geographical restrictions, etc.).  The CAB may also elect to “Counsel and Release” the youth in lieu of a Diversion Agreement, in which case the youth may not be required to do ANY of the previously mentioned conditions.  Also, at any time before the Diversion Agreement or the Counsel and Release are signed, the youth or the CAB may decline to utilize the Diversion Program.  In this case, the file would be forwarded to the Prosecutor for possible filing of formal charges.  The Diversion interview and Agreement will be kept confidential, but may count towards the juvenile’s criminal history.

The benefits of this approach are twofold; community members become active participants in the effort to curtail juvenile crime in their own community and also gain some insight through dealing with each offender; in addition, the juvenile offenders are appropriately held accountable for criminal activity in their community and are made aware of the direct relationship between crime and the people or groups of people affected by their delinquent actions.

The juvenile offender thus assumes direct responsibility for their crime, has the opportunity to make amends to the victim(s) and the community, and can hopefully emerge from the experience with a sense of self respect, community awareness and responsibility.

Referrals to the CAB board are screened for legal sufficiency by the Juvenile Justice Coordinator.  The first contact with the juvenile and his/her guardians will be made by the Juvenile Justice Coordinator for the purpose of explaining the Diversion program to them, to advise the juvenile of his/her rights and to determine if the juvenile and guardians wish to participate in Diversion and appear in front of the CAB, or to take the matter to court.  The juvenile will be given the opportunity for consultation with an attorney at public expense prior to deciding whether to choose the Diversion option.

The CAB board has the responsibility of determining how much and what kinds of consequences are appropriate to the offense.  This is accomplished by questioning the youth about the incident itself and any relevant issues that may pertain to the incident.

The number of times you will be requested to sit on CAB hearings depends on the number of referrals received by the Juvenile Justice Department.  Out of the board member pool, only three members are needed to make up a Board to hear cases on any given evening.  Juvenile Justice Department schedules Board members on monthly calendars.  Members are asked to notify the Juvenile Justice Department of any conflict on the scheduled dates.  An effort is made to distribute the opportunities as evenly as possible so all members can participate and no one is overburdened.  Hearings generally take thirty to forty-five minutes and up to three cases are scheduled per evening.  New volunteers come to Board meetings as observers until they feel comfortable serving as an active member.

The Juvenile Justice Department requests that each new member commit to at least a year to the program.  The reason for this is to ensure that the staff does not have to be constantly screening and training new members.  In addition, the Boards will run much more smoothly if the Board members are familiar with each other and have had some experience.  This does not mean that after a year you may no longer be a Board member, but that you will commit yourself to the program for at least that period of time.
The main effort of the CAB volunteers in cooperation with the Juvenile Justice Program is to ensure that each juvenile receives a fair hearing, a just disposition, direct accountability to their local community, and is provided with the services and support necessary to assist the juvenile to carry out the Diversion Agreement to a successful completion.

Confidentiality

One of the most important aspects of Diversion, and the major concern of both the parents and the youth, is confidentiality.  An Oath of Confidentiality must be signed by the Board members prior to each hearing.  It is extremely important that CAB board members do not discuss cases outside of the Diversion office.  A breach of confidentiality could result in a lawsuit and would be grounds for immediate dismissal for the Boards.