Almost two decades ago the Village Corporation Counsel, Barbara Meyer, came up with the idea of a special court call for Skokie youth experiencing their first interaction with the court system. The intent of the program was to hold young offenders who received local ordinance tickets for curfew violations, underage drinking, underage smoking, disorderly conduct, what are called status offenses, accountable for their actions. And so planning began for the Youth Ordinance Court which became operational in September of 1998. Annmarie Benuzzi has served as Program Coordinator from the beginning.  The original plan was to “sentence” these teens to community service. It was Annmarie Benuzzi who observed the complicated, chaotic home lives and attendant emotional challenges of these teens. She initiated program changes that now allow us to have, in the courtroom, clinical professionals who are able to do client intakes with these teens and sometimes their parents or guardians as well. The commitment of our community partners has been outstanding. But most outstanding has been the contributions of the professionals from Metropolitan Family Services who staff the courtroom at every court call and provide needed clinical interventions.