Teen Offender

Reading. Reflecting. Discussing. Agreeing. Disagreeing. Freeing...

Since 1996, the Juvenile Court Book Club (JCBC) has provided a forum for children in the court school system – who are the wards of the San Diego Juvenile Court – to share books and develop reading skills. Monthly, at each site, book club students gather with adult volunteers to discuss a wide range of literature. The books chosen serve as a springboard for discussions on personal issues important to participants.

The book club was developed by Hon. Maria Arroyo, Juvenile Court Referee (now retired), with support and encouragement from Hon. James Milliken, former Presiding Judge of the San Diego Juvenile Court.

The books for the club are selected to provide the students with appropriate, thought provoking titles.

Additionally, at each facility, a donated library of age-appropriate books benefits all residents at that site.

Juvenile Court Book Club, Inc. is a non-profit, public benefit 501(c)(3) corporation and gratefully acknowledges support from the Weingart-Price Fund at San Diego Foundation, Friends of Children United Society (FOCUS), the Rancho Santa Fe Women's Fund, the Lawyers Club's Fund For Justice, the San Diego Council on Literacy, and numerous other sponsors from the local community.

Juvenile Court Book Club, Inc. is the proud winner of the award for "Outstanding
Program for Youth" from the San Diego Juvenile Justice Commission, as well as the 2011 "Celebrate Literacy Award" from the Greater San Diego Reading Association (GSDRA).

Juvenile Court Book Club is currently accepting new volunteers.

Get started today!

If you are interested in volunteering as a Book Club Discussion Facilitator or as Volunteer Tutor, please contact JCBC Volunteer Coordinator Bobbie Kunath for more information.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT for volunteers entering detention facilities:

As of Jan. 2012, all volunteers working inside youth detention facilities are required to complete a Background Check. Background Checks are conducted externally by the San Diego County Probation Department and information is kept strictly confidential.

For Background Clearance forms and further information, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Bobbie Kunath.

 

ALTERNATIVE VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES:

Busy schedule? Can't make the drive to work in our classrooms but would still like to help?

Join our team as a CYBERSPACE VOLUNTEER and contribute from a distance. Give what you can, when you can, no Background Clearance paperwork required.

Please contact JCBC President Laura Grannis for more information.

JCBC is a proud member of the San Diego Council on Literacy

San Diego Council on Literacy

Facts about Juvenile Court Book Club:

  • The Juvenile Court Book Club program is comprised entirely of adult volunteers and youth who are delinquent wards of the Juvenile Court
  • Volunteers work together with teachers, Probation staff, and other employees in the Juvenile Court and Community Schools (JCCS) district to create a yearly Book Club curriculum (one book per month) to complement the public High School English curriculum.
  • Juvenile Court Book Club fundraises (relying entirely upon private grants and donations) to purchase copies of each month's title for the upcoming Book Club year (approx. 15-20 students per classroom, seven classrooms served per year, 10-12 monthly meetings held in each classroom).
  • Related books, magazines, movies, books-on-tape, and other media are purchased by Juvenile Court Book Club as supplemental curriculum to enrich the Book Club experience for students.
  • Volunteers attend monthly meetings and interact closely with students in a roundtable, seminar-style setting. Refreshments are served and volunteers offer subtle guidance for the discussion as needed.
  • In addition to monthly Book Club discussions, JCBC volunteers also coordinate and fund special events for students, teachers, and staff based on the monthly Book Club titles. Events include: author visits, book signings, visiting performers, speakers, film screenings, and field trips.
  • 70% of juveniles who are incarcerated for first time offenses never have further delinquency charges.
  • The average 16-year-old court school student reads at a fourth to sixth grade level.
  • More than 70% of prisoners in the United States are functionally illiterate (reading at or below the fourth-grade level).



 
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