Juvenile Probation Research Paper

Juvenile Probation
Tonya DeLana Chambers
Argosy University
Juvenile Corrections
Professor Tunisia Staten
May 11. 2015
Juvenile Probation
My local juvenile probation department has taken care of a number of different cases. Everything from alcohol offenses to unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. It has taken care of cases involving truancy, vandalism, possession of marijuana, burglary, also runaways, possession of a weapon, and resisting an officer without violence to name just a few. There are offenses that only a juvenile can be charged with. For instance there are actions that an adult cannot be charged with like truancy, or running away, but these offenses are considered illegal if the individual is a juvenile, and they can be charged
Their mission is also to “ensure victims’ rights” and “effect positive probationer behavioral changes” (County of Los Angeles Probation Department, 2007, pgs 1 & 3), which actually coincides with their vision to rebuild lives (County of Los Angeles Probation Department, 2007, pgs. 1 & 3). The Department also has Core Values that they embrace and follow. These values incorporate dignity and respect, integrity, leadership, rehabilitation, contribution, commitment, collaboration, and evidence-based practices and policies (County of Los Angeles Probation Department, 2007, pgs. 2 &3). My local area probation department has its juvenile department located with its adult probation department. This office supervises both juvenile and adults placed on probation by the courts. The juvenile department is also located with the community corrections department as well. Like the vision and mission statements, community corrections is very committed to the contribution of public safety and another of its goals is to reduce future criminal conduct (International Community Corrections Association, 1982, para 1). There are quite a few services aimed toward the rehabilitation of juveniles from the local probation department. Most of these services are aimed at keeping the youth in the community and more importantly in the home and out of the courts.
This method of corrections appears to have good results. The department will admit that there are some incorrigible youths that truly need monitoring, but at the same time the department feels that “there are only two other alternatives, and neither is acceptable: The state must not send its dangerous and damaged minor to probation departments that are not yet equipped to handle the most difficult cases; nor should it abandon them, along with any chance for their rehabilitation, to the adult penal system (Los Angeles Times, 2012, para. 4). Keeping these views in mind the overall assessment of my local juvenile department is fair to good. It could take some work anything worth having is worth working for. The children are our future, all of them. If we want a good future we have to help it along. I believe through the research that I have done that the local department is doing the job and meeting the needs of the youth. They are not just seeing them as lost causes, and understanding that each youth has a different reason for ending up where they are. They also see that the one thing all of them have in common is bad and/or wrong choices made, sometimes beyond their control. The evidence I have to support my answer is that the “Los Angeles County Probation is supervising less than 1,000 in 3 juvenile halls and 9 juvenile camps for youth receiving treatment for three to 12 months” (County of