Juvenile Justice Information Exchange (https://jjie.org/tag/juvenile-probation/)
As California’s juvenile probation caseloads have plummeted and annual costs of incarcerating a single youth skyrocketed to hundreds of thousands of dollars, juvenile probation departments, nevertheless, have manage to stave off severe budget cuts and layoffs. But that ride seemingly is ending as counties explore less costly alternatives to incarceration and probation.
Following its July 2017 resolution urging a shift in how juvenile probationers are supervised, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges recently issued its blueprint for how judges and probation officers help make that happen.
During the rollercoaster ride of a pandemic, it was Maxene Foster’s job to help make sure that cash-strapped Bronx residents got fed, were safely sheltered and so forth. For those efforts, the 20-year employee of Bronxworks, was tapped to represent the 900 staffers of that nonprofit agency during that rarest of Big Apple events: a ticker-tape parade. The ticker-tape, New York City parade celebrated youth probation officers, along with workers from nonprofit agencies, transit and other institutions deemed essential workplaces during the pandemic.
When founded on the best practices supported by research, juvenile probation circa 2016 is the most targeted, effective and cost efficient it’s ever been.
One of Judge Mark A. Ingram’s proudest memories in a long and storied career occurred years ago when a couple in his rural Idaho town invited a teen to their backyard barbecue, the same teen who had broken into their home and was sent to a residential treatment facility by the judge.
Ronaldi Rollins’ view from his corner office on the third floor is typical of metro Atlanta. A parking lot, some two-story apartment building, all nestled in the middle of a bunch of pine trees. Welcome to Jonesboro, Ga., command central for one juvenile probation officer in charge of 20 struggling teens. To pay a visit to Rollins, a kid has to make it past two levels of security. First, the metal detector and officer at the front door.