What is a Neighborhood Accountability Board?
Neighborhood Accountability Boards involve the community of people most affected by the crime (known as the stakeholders) - the victim and the offender and the family, friends, and key supporters of both - in deciding the resolution of a criminal incident. These affected parties are brought together by a trained facilitator to discuss how they and others have been harmed by the offense and how that harm might be addressed. To participate, the offender must admit to the offense. Participation by all involved is voluntary.

The History of Neighborhood Accountability Boards in Florida
As of Spring 2003, 33 neighborhoods in Florida have Neighborhood Accountability Boards. Citizen-volunteers in 13 counties, trained by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice in conjunction with Florida Atlantic University's Balanced and Restorative Justice Project, are listening to the cases of first-time juvenile offenders and the plights of victims. They weigh how to bring peace and justice to victims and the community, while addressing appropriate sanctions for offenders, such as community service and restitution. The Neighborhood Accountability Boards are receiving about $550,000 in grant funding from the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. The 13 counties involved to date by the program are Alachua, Collier, Duval, Gadsden, Hillsborough, Lee, Leon, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach, Pinellas, Sarasota and Volusia.

Florida's introduction to Neighborhood Accountability Boards can be traced back to 1999. The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice in its commitment to giving a greater voice to victims of juvenile crime and providing additional, appropriate opportunities to divert minor first-time juvenile offenders from the formal juvenile justice system supported the creation and funding of Neighborhood Accountability Boards. Planning grants for Florida's first Neighborhood Accountability Boards were provided in 2001.

Why Is There a Need for Neighborhood Accountability Boards?
Florida has more than 1.72 million youth, and its 10- to 17-year-old population will increase about 10.6 percent during the 2000s. Most Florida youth will not commit delinquent acts, however in FY 2001-02, there were 97,362 youths involved in 149,658 arrests. The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice is interested in opportunities for non-judicial sanctions for many of the 60 percent of juvenile offenders who will be arrested only once. Neighborhood Accountability Boards can provide that alternative to the formal juvenile justice system.

Preventing victimization of citizens remains a top priority. The Department's first goal in its Long-Range Program Plan is to protect Florida's citizens and visitors from violence. Neighborhood Accountability Boards are Florida's new neighborhood justice approach to reducing victimization by juvenile offenders, thus supporting the Department's Leadership Agenda to implement Restorative Justice and Victim Services.