Probation Officer Roles

The judge, probation officer, and juvenile police officer all have vital roles in a juvenile’s life as well as to the juvenile justice system.
From what I have read the Judge is said to have the most important role. The judge is responsible for a variety of duties from administrative to judicial. The judge makes decisions in regards to whether a child needs to be taken away from their home, whether the evidence presented is true and factual, and last figure out what services best fits the needs of the child. None of those are easy decisions to make, whatever the judge decides impacts the child, the family, and society.
“The juvenile court judge must ensure that there are enough judicial officers to complete the work of the court” It is important that the judge ensures that there are enough case workers to handle the work load there has a been
a shortage which can cause a bit of a struggle. Another responsibility of the judge that I found to be interesting was that even the cases that do not reach the juvenile courts the judge still must check to see that the matter was rectified under authority.
The next big role would be the juvenile police officer. The juvenile officer handles paperwork associated with court on every occasion that they pick up a charge. They act as a communicator between the police departments and child services. They are expected to act as many roles when handling juveniles due to the fact they are not like handling adults at all very different. Initially the officer is the first point of contact for the juvenile so that gives them the first impression of the system. For example, if an officer is handling a juvenile that is crying and very upset they may have to switch over to counselor for a while to see what is the root of the problem that caused them to misbehave. The juvenile officers help monitor our schools to ensure the safety of everyone. For the juveniles who like to trespass, skip curfew, and commit petty crimes officers are consistently patrolling areas of opportunity. One requirement that I found interesting was that the officers are required to be up to date with technology. It is good that they are so they know to navigate around social media and websites in case they need to investigate any online bulling and potential child molesters. Since the officers participate in prevention programs while they are at schools they advertise for staying above the influence and avoiding joining gangs. Last but not definitely not least would be the juvenile probation officer. Of course, first they make sure the juvenile is following orders under the law and staying within the guidelines of their probationary terms. The probation officers work towards ensuring that there is a change in the juvenile by checking on their progress and making sure they go to necessary sessions and treatments. Often from what I have seen if the juvenile is on probation for having a history with drugs they will utilize random tests to make sure you are leading a drug free life.
Probation officers are on call all hours of the day for many juveniles in case of an emergency and to assist with the needs of the families and juvenile.
All three have very vital roles that all contribute to the juvenile justice system.
All the positions are similar because they offer aid and assistance to the child. I’ve learned the judge hold the most responsibility because ultimately they are left with the decision in the end. The officers are the most common however the probation officer takes more responsibility than the typical juvenile officer. Thy write the initial report but the probation officer is with the child throughout case.
Typically, in Texas theft over a hundred dollars is a class c misdemeanor but for a ten-year like the case the scenario may be different. The first thing the judge will look at I believe would be the home life. The typical ten-year-old is not running around stealing from stores that type of behavior is learned or observed at that young of an age I believe. I firmly believe we pick up the interactions and behaviors of our families and then friends because we spend the most time with
them. Since this is also appearing to be his first interaction more than likely he will not receive probation but alternatives to correct his behavior. Community service and juvenile jury are two methods that are useful when it comes to teens. Community service is a way for them to give back to the community and grow a relationship with citizens. The teen court is useful in my opinion because it allows the child to look at other children who are like them and offer advice. It gives a different perspective.
The Judge has many things to consider so the child can learn from his wrong doing and prevent this from occurring in the future. Here in Texas one program that would help him would be this program called TFTS it offers a variety of skills that would better parents, along with support from the community.
In conclusion, the best judgement will be made to better the future of the juvenile