Juvenile court chief Casey Lightfoot added that the outcome will depend on the entire juvenile court system opting for a new evidence-based approach. The focus is on helping people find help and resources.

“We are currently getting referrals from the police and schools, but if the family is suffering from something before the police get involved, we want the family to come,” said the deputy director of the juvenile court in Israel. Garcia said.

At the Hope Receiving Center (housed and staffed in the Coconino County Juvenile Court), families can participate in support groups, parenting classes, and family strengthening training.

“Right now, priority is evidence-based,” explained Angela Kilcher, a juvenile judge at Coconino County Juvenile Court. “We don’t do things because it feels right, or because we’ve always done it. , we do things based on research that considers why children are impulsive, why people can’t use their frontal lobes: readjustment dysregulation. They are often unable to make logical decisions.”

The Hope Center offers classes designed to help you work with parts of your brain that don’t work well during times of extreme stress and difficulty. These class offerings include yoga and meditation services, coping skills training, and individual counseling.

“Parents can bring their children. We provide babysitting. Parents can enjoy yoga classes and learn skills to readjust. “If we help our children feel whole and their families feel whole and supported, we will be able to go home with a sense of humility,” said Lightfoot. They feel connected to our community, and when you have that connection, there is less discomfort in the community, so the more we can help keep our children healthy, the more I Our communities will be healthier.”

Another change in approach is apparent the moment you enter the door of either the Juvenile Court or the adjoining Hope Reception Center and Detention Facility. It is unlike the experience of entering a typical detention facility or court. There are metal detectors and security, but they overflow the cozy lobby. A smiling receptionist in a white fedora sits just steps away from a bright, flashy mural by a local artist.

“I think anyone who comes through our door has a history of adversity,” Lightfoot said. That’s why we’ve put a huge focus on deinstitutionalizing the Center, from the library to the courtroom.”

In Coconino County juvenile courts, judges sit lower than traditionally. A wooden bench sits beneath a wall lined with color photographs of trees, streams and fields.

The center itself was once an unused detention center. It now has a trendy coffee shop feel and decor. It features living walls, high bar-style seating, cozy rugs, plush furnishings, and lighting that’s more ‘industrial chic’ than ‘repurposed prison’.

“Maybe someone’s parents are in jail. Police patrol their neighborhoods,” Kircher said.

Because the center hopes to address the root causes of juvenile crime and delinquency, it is important to provide services in comfortable, non-threatening locations.

“In my opinion, if we can create, or at least raise, healthy, happy, and safe families, our communities will follow suit and our communities will be the whole of all the families within them. It’ll look like a statue. We’re not dealing with those gut reactions anymore. How have we dealt with this past trauma? How should we deal with this past trauma and how should we move forward?” Kircher said.

Coconino County will be home to the state’s first trauma-informed court center. According to Lightfoot, each staff member has undergone more than 200 hours of his trauma response training. She said they are working to start with a place of compassion.

That also applies to teenagers who have committed crimes and are being adjudicated.

“Let’s say a child is referred for domestic violence,” Kircher explained. he took the child into custody. Children are detained overnight, heard the next morning, and usually released to their families. All we can do now is provide the child with a bed in Hope Her Center for the night.

“It’s unlocked. It’s a safe place. It keeps the family cool. It avoids imprisonment and institutionalization. I can imagine being in a cell at 13 or 14. Kids.” is not good for

She stressed that her top priority will always be the safety and well-being of all of Flagstaff.

“If there are people who are dangerous and should not be in the community or need work before they can return to the community, we will detain them,” she said. It is dangerous. They engage in dangerous behavior. ”

The central outdoor garden is bathed in sunlight and dotted with potted plants. A human-sized monarch butterfly soars across a red brick wall. Among the lawn furniture handcrafted by the juvenile court staff is a cornhole board and an oversized connect his four deck.

The staff hopes to build more than furniture in this environment, and grow plants beyond succulents and spiders.

“I believe in being able to fully support and hold children accountable. Teaching accountability. At the same time, you are investing in them as a person,” said Lightfoot. It’s not that we don’t want to be better, it’s that people are at stake and they don’t have the right tools or don’t know where to go because that’s our strength. We want to help them, and we’re successful at that.”

Garcia has worked in the adult detention and probation system for over ten years. He said investing in children who make mistakes is very rewarding.

“You can’t treat children like little adults. If you look at the science of things, their brains are still developing. If you don’t provide them with the basics like safety, home, food, they won’t learn. They won’t learn.” are not meant to grow up, so we are committed to providing them so that they can grow into responsible and productive adults,” Garcia said.

Currently, county juvenile courts are working to raise awareness about community diversion and conversion programs, encouraging more families to stop by and ask for help if needed.

Programs and Therapeutics Manager Cydney Boyer said: “Looks light. There’s a post survey, ask questions. No one said it didn’t help.””