Community Assessment and Referral Center (CARC) - Community Youth Center

CARC provides an alternative to juvenile hall for youth 11-17 years of age arrested for a variety of criminal offenses. CARC provides a single point of entry of crisis intervention, assessment, service integration, referring and mentoring.

This project involves a collaboration of all the city agencies working with youth –– from the schools, human services, and public health, through juvenile probation, police, the district attorney, the public defender, the sheriff and community based organizations. Each youth is connected to a case manager, as well as to a mentor who spends one-on-one time with the youth, works with probation and the court, and guides the youth into positive interventions in the community.

Project goals include: Increase youth school performance, increase rates of successful completion of probation, reduce subsequent recidivism, out-of-home placements, and reduce youth’s incidences of substance abuse.