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Administration of Justice Bulletin No. 98/03 December 1998 funding for juvenile coua services and delinquency prevention programs, to appoint a Juvenile Crime Pre- vention Council to act as a local juvenile justice plan- ning body. Two or more counties may establish a multicounv,.' council, with membership representative of each parucipating county.. A council may consist of no more than twenvy-five members, must reflect the racial and socioecoaomic diversity of the community, and should include, if possible, the following: 1. the local school superintendents(s) (or designee) 2. a chief of police 3. the local sheriff (or designee) 4. the district attorney (or designee) 5. the chief court counselor (or designee) 6. the director of the area mental health, devel- opmental disabilities, and substance abuse authority (or designee) 7. the director of the county department of social services or consolidated human services agency (or designee) 8. the county manager (or designee) 9. a substance abuse professional 10. a tnember of the faith community. 11. a county comrmssioner 12. a person under the age of twen~-one 13. a juvenile defense attorney 14. the chief district court judge (or a district court judge designated by that person) 15. a member of the business community 16. the local health director (or designee) 17. a representative from the United Way or other nonprofit agent' 18 a representative of a local parks and recrea- tion program 19. up to seven members of the public Members serve staggered, renewable two-year terms. A council must meet at least once per month, ,-md council members elect a chair and vice-chair annually. Duties Each council must (1) annually review the needs of juveniles in the coun .ty who are at risk of delin- quency, or who have been adjudicated undisciplined or delinquent and the resources available to address the needs: (2) develop and advertise a request-for-proposal process and submit a written plan of action for the expenditure of juvenile justice funds to the board of count5.' commissioners for its approval and submission to the Office of Juvenile lustice; (3) ensure ~ appro- priate intermediate dispositional options are available, and prioritize funding for intermediate and commu- nity-level dispositions. Councils may consider joint program development between counties within the same judicial district. Councils are required, on an ongoing basis, to: · assess the needs of juveniles in the conunu- nity, evaluate available resources, and develop or propose ways to address unmet needs; · evaluate the performance of juvenile services and programs in the community: · increase public awareness of the causes of delinquency and strategies to reduce the problem; · develop strategies to respond to and treat the needs of juveniles at risk of delinquency; · provide funds for services for treatment, counseling, or rehabilitation for juveniles and their farmlies, including court-ordered parenting responsibility classes; and * plan for the establishment of a permanent funding stream for delinquenT prevention services. Authority of Juvenile Court Counselors The authority of juvenile court counselors (for- merly. G.S. 110-23) is continued with several changes in new G.S. 147-33.46. effective January 1, 1999. Instead of the outdated language that gave court coun- selors "the powers of peace officers," the new section specifically authorizes court counselors (1) to serve necessary court documents pertaining to delinquent and undisciptined juvenile matters, (2) to assume cus- tody of juveniles under the court's jurisdiction when necessary to protect the public or the juvenile and nec- essary to carry out theft' statutory responsibilities, and (3) to use reasonable force and restraint when neces- sary to secure custody of a juvenile. It also specifies that court counselors must assist in the development of aftercare and the supervision of juveniles, presumably refemng to juveniles who are conditionally released from training school. ~ New Juvenile Code Structure Effective July l, 1999, a new Juvenile Code, G.S. Chapter 7B, becomes effective and the existing code, Subchapter XI of G.S. Chapter 7A, is repealed. The 10