The Juvenile Service Department Is A Centralized Processing, Referral, And Evaluation Center Essay

A difficult challenge to the juvenile justice system and child welfare system is working with adolescents with comorbid difficulties, causing these adolescents to becoming at risk for incarceration and involvement with the juvenile and adult justice system. The juvenile justice system appears to be having a challenging time in determining how to respond and treat adolescents with mental health and substance use. "Many

Florida Legislatures created the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice in 1994 to serve as the state agency responsible for youth involved in the juvenile justice system. Although the state agency is under the authority of the state governor, Secretary Christina Daly, who provides leadership for the organization, each circuit has a leadership team who runs the daily operation of each sub-department. The Department’s headquarter is located in Tallahassee Florida where 3,000 employees are employed statewide. Broward County, the seventeenth circuit employs one hundred and twenty employees in Probation. The Department’s mission is to increase public safety by reducing juvenile delinquency through effective prevention, intervention and treatment services that strengthen families and turn around the lives of troubled youth. The Department’s vision is that the children and families of Florida will live in safe, nurturing communities that provide for their needs, recognize their strengths and support their success. The Department has five guiding principles: Prevention and education are paramount; Strengthen partnerships with judicial, legislative and community stakeholders; Promote public safety through effective intervention; provide a safe and nurturing environment for our children and preserve and restore physical and mental health (http://www.djj.state.fl.us/about-us/mission).

Throughout this paper we will examine the many different functions of DJJ and how it attempts to maintain a positive reputation as one of South Carolinas premiere public service agencies.

The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, established in 1974 and most recently reauthorized in 2002, created a partnership between the federal government and the states to protect youth in the juvenile and criminal justice system, address delinquent behavior, and improve community safety by preventing juvenile crime and delinquency. The JJDPA is responsible for the operation of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency prevention, provides a juvenile justice planning and advisory system in each state, and provides federal funding for delinquency prevention and improvements in state and local juvenile justice programs. Under the JJDPA there are four major streams of funding for the Federal-State partnership: (JJDPA, 2007)

Primary clients and stakeholders involved in the program are: teens, parents, volunteers, schools the teen court coordinator Tamisha Fletcher, judges, Teen Court Advisory Board, City of Arlington officials, and the community service agencies who provide work for teens to complete community service hours. The program’s success depends on

A huge problem arising in this though is that there is a huge demand for juvenile justice services, which is increasing the need for resources, but the system only has a limited amount of resources. I believe that the community should get together and come up with ideas on setting up

(d) Programs will be available the Department of Justice, and the Department of Social Services, to provide an outlet for trouble teens, or judicial cases requiring community services

There are various efforts that are currently underway to bring about changes and reform in the juvenile justice system. One such program is The Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University. This is a program that supports and educates leaders across systems of care to advance a balanced, multi-system approach to improving outcomes for, and promoting the positive development of, youth at risk of juvenile justice involvement (Center for Juvenile Justice Reform, 2014).

The Division of Youth Services is a state agency responsible with the care and treatment of delinquent youth in custody of the state within the 45 Missouri juvenile courts. Programs

The juvenile victim justice system is divided into the criminal justice system and the child protection system. Although its two different system, they work together to ensure the victims safety. The criminal justice system focuses on the crime itself whereas the child protection system focus on helping the child. After the initial report, a screening is done to see if there is enough information. If there is enough information, the investigation then starts. Child protective service will notify the police if there is any problem. The child might be taken for medical examination and mental health evaluation. To ensure the safety of the child, the investigators can take them into custody. Then the court will decide who to give the parental rights

The Campaign for Youth Justice (CFYJ) is the agency that I want to volunteer for. Its located in DC and they help raise awareness for at risk kids. I was interested in this agency because DC/PG is my home, I want to give back. I’ve seen good people/friends get caught up in robberies, drugs, and guns or just hanging with the wrong people. I want to help the youth because I made it from those troubled circumstances, I don’t want to see kids with potential get caught up with the law. This agency raises the awareness about the negative influence of a youth getting prosecuted in an adult criminal justice system and sending them to jail at the youthful age of 16-20. I want the experience working with youth mainly teenagers though. I want to help

2. The characteristics and backgrounds of the people served by this program are diverse populations, underserved, at-risk adolescents and delinquent juveniles between the ages of 11 and 18 including their families. These individuals lacked resources, were a challenge to help, and appeared unmotivated to change. A common factor these underserved populations held together were upon entrance to social services individuals expressed emotions of anger, hopelessness, and resistance to treatment.

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).

Alternative programs for youth were developed for mild and less serious delinquents. Over the years, the program has seen a surge in electronic home monitoring, community intensive supervision programs which service serious offenders in addition to minor cases. At times, group homes may house repeated youth offenders. Regardless of the placement, 24-hour supervision is provided in a unique way.

Juvenile courts also need to be established either as separate units or as part of existing regional or district courts, for specialized services. States should establish a ‘child-sensitive’ environment to promote friendly communication and to draw the child into the process/proceeding more effectively as an active participant. And states are recommended to appoint specialized judges or magistrates to deal with juvenile case. Article 40(3) of the CRC recommends the establishment and development of child-specific laws, procedures, regulations, and guidelines, codes of practice, authorities and institutions applicable for children. As a result, states legislation should provide specialized children’s units, which is comprehended with the special units of police, prosecutor’s office, court administration, social services and probation