The Department Of Juvenile Justice

Placing a juvenile in a detention center early in the court process increases the risk that youths will be found to be delinquent and damage their prospects for future success. A majority of the youths that are placed in these facilities pose little or no threat to the public and essentially do not need to be there. This portion of the juvenile court process is detrimental to the future and mental aspects of a youth’s life. We desperately need to change the way that we handle the juvenile court system because we are only reinforcing the delinquent behavior that these youths have been exposed to. We need to focus on the rehabilitation and prevention efforts for these youths not the punishment aspect and until then (insert a better ending).

The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice Office of Prevention and Victim Services provides voluntary youth crime prevention programs through the state of Florida. The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice mission is to increase public safety by reducing juvenile delinquency through operative prevention, intervention and treatment services that builds up families for a turn around of a brighter future of a troubled youth. The main functions of these programs as will be indicated in this paper are designed to reduce juvenile crime and protect public safety. These programs that will be stated main focused is to help those high-risk juveniles and those who display problem behaviors such as ungovernability, truancy, running away from home and other pre-delinquent behaviors. The state of Florida addresses these problems by contracting this delinquency programs prevention services and awarding grants to this local providers throughout the state of Florida.

Reform struggles began in the 1960’s and it had changed the appearance of the juvenile justice system. New York passed legislation in 1962 which made a family court system. This court system took on the responsibility for all concerns which involves family life and heavy concentration on delinquent and neglected youths. The PINS (person in need of supervision) and CHINS (children in need of supervision) were also created by legislation which contains issues like truancy. When utilizing these labels it sets jurisdiction over youth, juvenile courts extended their roles as social agencies. The 1960’s and 70’s the juvenile justice system was changed when it released cycles of decisions that established the right of juveniles to receive due process of law as mentioned above. The goals of were to a) remove youths from incarceration at adult prisons, b) eliminate incarceration of delinquents and status offenders. In 1994, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act provide 100,000 police officers and billions of dollars for prisons and prevention programs for adults and youth offenders, (Siegel, L.J., & Welsh, B. C., 2012). The juvenile justice system today maneuvers jurisdiction over delinquents and status offender. The delinquent youth fall under jurisdictional age limit which is different from state to state and the condition of act committed in violation of penal code. Status offenders are defined as youths in need of supervision.

This paper will address the functionality of the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice. First, it will examine the Agency as a whole and then it will explore the individuality of sectors within the agency. Second, the paper will discuss the different ways that the agency survives and serves the community. The South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice plays a vital role in the success of at risk youth and maintaining a secure structure to assist youth that end up in troublesome situations.

The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) is the principal federal program through which the federal government sets standards for juvenile justice systems at the state and local levels. It provides direct funding for states, research, training, and technical assistance, and evaluation. The JJDPA was originally enacted in 1974 and even though the JJDPA has been revised several times over the past 30 years, its basic composition has remained the same. Since the act was passed in 1974, the JJDPA focused solitary on preventing juvenile delinquency and on rehabilitating juvenile offenders.

Juvenile correctional systems have many different components and some are likely to be affected with a primary focus on rehabilitation. Today the United States falls short of providing adequate public juvenile facilities. With a focus on punishment, the need for new facilities will continue to rise. Switching the primary focus to

Most of us grow up being taught to protect those who cannot protect themselves. Social workers, especially, are exhorted by their code of ethics to challenge injustice “particularly with and on behalf of vulnerable and oppressed individuals and groups of people” (National Association of Social Workers, 2008). So why are as many of 70% of those in local and state juvenile justice systems dealing with their illness in correctional facilities (National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), 2016; Shufelt & Cocozza, 2006)? These are the national numbers. So what about in our own state of Virginia? The Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) conducted a study of juveniles in detention homes in 2002 and that found that more than 40% of males and almost 60% of females needed mental health services. As many as 7% of the males and 15% of the females needed this assistance urgently (Juvenile Offending, n.d.). Even more disturbing is the fact that nationally up to two out of three of that 70% was actually a dual diagnosis of more than one mental illness, often including a substance abuse disorder. One in five of those same juveniles were so severely disabled by their illness that they were unable to function as a young person and were seriously in danger of not developing into a functional adult (Hammond, 2007). Juveniles are considered more difficult to treat for mental illness due to developmental issues (Hammond, 2007) and rapidly changing biological and mental makeup.

Juvenile Justice Centers do not help the children in the centers in any way, and they do not care about the children either. These centers do more harm than good. They do not support children with learning disabilities, emotional and behavioral problems, and health issues. Also, it is very hard to get a high school diploma, and even to finish high school while locked up.

The Department of Juvenile Services changed from the Department of Juvenile Justice to make it sound less punitive. The Department of Juvenile service (DJS) Violence Prevention Initiative (VPI) integrates intensive supervision and treatment services to prevent juvenile homicides, non-fatal shootings and victimization. (VPI standards procedure page 2). Their vision is to promote successful youth, groom strong leaders and provide a safe community.

There are a couple of different theory on how and why the juvenile court developed. Anthony Platt argues that the Chicago court was created to control the increasing number of poor and the large groups of immigrants that were coming into the city by the middle and upper classes. Mr. Platt believed that the reason the juvenile court was established in Chicago was because of middle-class interest groups, he felt that the juvenile court are a manifestation of middle-class values and of the philosophy of conservative political groups.

Unfortunately, in a society dominated by material wealth and status, young individuals often make drastic errors in judgment. Many young individuals, attempting to mimic their role models, pursue endeavors that are as unprofitable as there are detrimental. Activities such as theft, assault, burglary, and vandalism are all common mistakes that young individuals in society make. The reasons for such activity are as varied as they are bizarre. However, society must account for these infringements on individual rights with proper correctional initiatives. One of these initiatives, geared primarily towards young adults, is centered on juvenile court. Juvenile court provides services and support to youth between the ages of 10 and 17. The primary goal of this supervision is to monitor and assist children in hopes of returning these individuals back to society in a productive manner. The Juvenile Court Services unit of Kenosha Wisconsin is no different in this regard as it attempts to aid its youth by preventing destructive behavior from occurring (Dishion, 1999).

Early in U.S. history, children who broke the law were treated the same as adult criminals. If you are a young person under the age of 18 and you commit a crime, you will have your case heard in the juvenile justice system. The thing is that, it hasn’t always gone that way. The idea of a separate justice system for juveniles is just over one hundred years old (American Bar). Where did juvenile justice come from? The law was in the image of the common law of England. William Blackstone, Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England, first published in the late 1760s, was admired by the United States founders.

Juvenile crime is a term around the world that is difficult to pinpoint and although there are several definitions many fail to be concrete. There are many factors that play into sentencing juveniles or minors upon a crime committed. How old are they? Can they mentally form criminal intent? Are they old enough to no longer be treated as children? Some people would argue that a criminal is just that, regardless of age. Research on the other hand shows that juveniles have underdeveloped brains who at times have difficulty rationalizing decisions and weighing out consequences. It is important that these issues are addressed because of the implications this has on not only the juveniles but the community around them. These

The juvenile justice system is similar to the criminal justice system. This system is where juveniles are processed, and may be arrested after referrals for juvenile delinquency. Juvenile justice is very different in every state and can be very similar as well because every system has limited jurisdiction and that most focus on the offenders and not their offenses. Therefore, there are 51 juvenile justice systems in the United States. The United States has the juvenile justice system because children are very different than adults – in that they can be better receptive for change and also being easier to rehabilitate. Moreover, the main goal of the juvenile justice system is rehabilitation (Juvenile Law Center). The juvenile justice system is made up of police, courts, corrections, probation and parole services, as well as community-based programs to name a few (book).

For starters, contact with a police officer often is a young person 's introduction to the juvenile justice system police account for most referrals to juvenile court. Law enforcement 's role with boys and girls under the age of eighteen is challenging because there are laws that federally protect youth that commit serious crimes and attempts to aid them in a road to recovery to return to their communities. Police officers generally summon young offenders to the police department 's juvenile division to question them and if necessary, confine them. At the time of an arrest, officers decide whether to refer young offenders to juvenile court or to send the case to the justice system.