GCCF Supports Early Intervention with Teen Court of Sarasota

October 11, 2023 – Sarasota

With the generous support of Gulf Coast Community Foundation, Teen Court of Sarasota, Inc. will expand staffing to address the 10% growth in South Sarasota County Civil Citations.

With the substance abuse program CAMP X-RAYD (Examine Reality About Your Decisions) day at capacity, we have added an additional evening to address our middle school age youth who are experimenting with drugs and alcohol. CAMP X-RAYD2 will allow young people to tour the jail (recovery pods) and spend time with our local law enforcement to build trust and encourage them to not make the same mistakes as adults. This abbreviated program will serve our middle school students referred by the schools, law enforcement, or through a parent referral.

With generous funding from the Anna V. Pfister, Nellie Mae Koss and Helen K. Hadden Memorial Endowment Fund at Gulf Coast Community Foundation, this $25,000 gift will also address the need to add a South Sarasota County Case Manager.  This was necessary as the growth of Civil Citations meant current staff adding hours and the youth needing to spend more time with us. Our middle school expansion has allowed us to navigate youth on middle school campuses and then onto their high school campus years.

Gulf Coast Community Foundation was with Teen Court from the beginning with the expansion of Sarasota County Teen Court services and programs at the satellite location in North Port.  Teen Court youth who complete our program successfully have a 94% overall success rate of staying crime-free.  85% of parents have seen an improvement in communication at home and 96% of the youth who attend our Camp X-RAYD program stay crime-free. A win for Sarasota County!

Heather Todd, executive director of Teen Court, shares, “Over the past year we have not only seen an increase in our referrals, we have also seen an increase in our student’s needs for additional support and services.  Our new CAMP-XRAYD2 program for our middle school students is the perfect example. In this arena, the expediency of action/reaction regarding services must be a quick turnaround. Without generous funding like this, our expansion would not be possible. We are so grateful for Gulf Coast Community Foundation.”