About Us

 The Philadelphia Community Youth Court (PCYC) was founded in 2012 by Francine Cox-Hardaway as a pilot program designed to help eradicate the school-to-prison pipeline. Our objective is to provide training for the development and implementation of school-based youth courts and community-based youth courts in Philadelphia. Youth courts are programs in which youth sanction their peers for minor delinquent and school discipline policy offenses, as well as other problem behaviors. 

Youth offenders agree to participate in a hearing that utilizes the principles of restorative and transformative justice and agree to complete restorative sanctions offered by a jury of their youth peers. Young Barristers are trained, certified, and sworn in the Philadelphia Community Youth Court Process to serve in various roles, including judge, youth advocate, juror, bailiff, and foreperson. During the hearing, Young Barristers ask restorative questions with the intention of discovering any underlying factors that may have caused the behavior. The objective is to eliminate the behavior by connecting them to the necessary resources to help them heal and prevent recidivism. Youth offenders who participate in the program are still held accountable for their actions and are responsible for repairing the harm they have caused.

Our mantra is "Changing Thinking, Changing Behavior". 

We nurtured and developed a generation of youth who understand delinquent behavior as a public health crisis that requires systemic legal, educational, behavioral, and social interventions, as well as policy changes, to reduce the likelihood of a youth returning to the legal system or going to prison.