Over the past several years the Texas Legislature and many other states throughout the country have instituted numerous changes in juvenile law and the juvenile justice system. These include juvenile civil rights and criminal laws, expansion of prosecutorial discretion in charging decisions, increased punishment, and a decrease in requirements for adult treatment. These and other matters have led to the criminalization of our youth. However, many young persons, as well as offenders, are often ignorant of the legal consequences of their behavior and associations. Corpus Justice, a member of Houston Peace and Justice Center, has developed a program to address this problem.

The purpose of the Teen Alert Program is designed to educate young persons ages 8 to 17 years in the area of:

1. civil rights and juvenile law;
2. the juvenile justice system:
   • how violations of the law are prosecuted,
   • the legal system and its processes,
   • information regarding assigned legal assistance, or the financial burden of acquiring credible legal representation;
3. how to deal properly with stressful police contact should it occur: stops, searches, seizures, arrest;
4. the consequences of arrest: booking, bond, confinement, trial; and
5. conviction/sentencing: probation, boot camp, incarceration.

The Teen Alert Program fills a void in the education of our youth that can no longer be ignored. It will provide educational information, tools and incentives to help young people deal appropriately with their changing legal status in our society.

We invite schools, churches, and other organizations to sponsor the Teen Alert Program for their group. The program presentation is approximately 1 hour to 1 and 1/2 hours long and can be easily fitted into most school schedules and organization meetings. We are accepting Fall scheduling arrangements at this time. If you would like to sponsor and schedule the Teen Alert Program for your school, church or group, please call Marilyn Haed at 281-405-8998.

We also invite teenagers and adults who would like to work with the program as a volunteer to contact us at the same number above.

For more information about Corpus Justice, visit our website at http://users.ev1.net/~corpus/.