Buncombe Alternatives

Buncombe Alternatives continues to encourage and promote community based sentencing by carrying out the following programs : 1) Buncombe County and Rutherford County Teen Court 2.) Earn & Learn Restitution / Restorative Community Service Program. These programs provide intervention initiatives that are both community. service oriented and community based.

Earn & Learn Restitution/Restorative Community Service Program: This program is for diverted youth and youth on probation. Its premise is that restitution/restorative programming is effective when a juvenile accepts responsilbility for his or her offenses and is committed to the principle of making amends to the victim and the community. Goals are to increase restitution payments made to victime of juvenile crimes, teach offenders accountability and responsibility for their crimes and provide structure and monitoring for their payment of restitution, reduce the workload of the court counselors, support victims, and provide offenders with employable skills and resources.

Buncombe and Rutherford County Teen Court: Teen court is an innovative diversion program which alllows first-time juvenile violators of the law to come before a jury of their peers in a court hearing instead of going to Juvenile Court. The defendant must admit guilt during the intake interview in order to participate. Teen court stresses the importance of positive peer pressure through restorative justice to help correct illegal behavior. Teen Court reinforces positive behavior while encourgaging accountability. Teen Court also teaches youth volunteers (the Jury) the responsibility of citizenship or how to act for the common good. During FY 2022-2023, Buncombe Alternatives served 150 school-based teens.