AG 1998 04 20 - Laserfiche WebLink

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4A PROGRAM NARRATIVE The Cabarrus County. Juvenile Services Restitution Program proposes to provide the vehicle whereby juvenile offenders of the law are held accountable for their behavior by working at various public service agencies (wurksites) to earn monetary restitution for their victims. The juvenile may earn $5.00/hour, with the oppommity of earning an amount of $200 dollars. There will be no direct payment of earnings to the juveniles for work done. Restitution would be addressed by debiting payment of earnings to the juveniles for work done. Restitution would be addressed by debiting monies earned by the juveniles from the "restitution bank" line item; based on the number of hours the juvenile has worked and forwarded directly to the victim for the juvenile's restitution debt. Checks for victim restitution will be generated through the county manager's office. In an attempt to hold the juvenile accountable for his/her behavior, the juvenile may be ordered to perform uncompensated community service work, when no restitution is owed to the victim. Also, a juvenile may be ordered to perform community service even if he/she has been ordered to pay restitution. The Program Manager is responsible for providing overall administration and coordination of the program. This includes, but not limited to, coordination of services between court counselors and worksite referral source, computation and reporting of juveniles' earnings, accurately completing reports as required by the prospective fimding source, monitoring program expenditures, continuous efforts to enhance the effectiveness and services of the prograrm and communicating with the referral sources with status and progress information and planning. The Community Services Referral Source will receive referrals after the Juvenile Court has adjudicated the juvenile delinquent for having committed some property, damage, personal injury or related offense and has ordered an amount of restitution to be paid by the juvenile and/or required the juvenile to work a specific number of uncompensated community sen4ce hours. Each juvenile will have a conference with their court counselor and community service representative to discuss his/her participation in the program, prior to developing a work schedule and placement of a juvenile with a participating worksite. The role of the parent(s)/guardian is addressed. In an effort to obtain support for the juvenile, the responsibility of transporting the juvenile to and from work is placed with the parents(s)/guardian. Circumstances of the family that may affect the juvenile's participation in the program is also addressed. The juvenile may then be placed for work with monitoring of hisPaer progress. All work is done at the participating wurksite. Supervision of the juveniles while working will be provided by actual worksite employees, serving as volunteer worksites for the program. Supervision is also provided periodically by the Community. Service staff, Worksite Supervisors are responsible for documenting the hours worked by the juveniles, and the juveniles' work performance. The juvenile is terminated from the program when the requirements of restitution or community service have been met, or if the juvenile needs to be unsuccessfully terminated from the program. If the juvenile is unsuccessfully terminated, he/she will have gone through a series of steps before being discharged. The first step, a verbal warning, is given'. The Community Service staff discuss problems with the juvenile, parents and worksite supervisor. The second step is the information being given to the Court Counselor, and another visit is made by Community Services ~aff, with the Court Counselor. The third action would be termination form the Restitution Program upon review with the Chief Court Counselor. Termination is via conference, visit, telephone call, or letter. The kinds of behavior that warrant an unsuccessfifl termination is: showing up consistently late for work, or not showing at all, leaving work early, not performing assigned duties, showing disrespect for supervisors, violence at the worksite, alcohol or drugs used at the worksite, and breaking any laws while in the Program. If a child is successfully terminated, however, he/she will receive a letter of congratulations from the Restitution Program Manager. Overall, the Restitution Program hopes to average a success rote of 85%. It is believed that many juveniles will not become further involved in the court system after their experience with the program. Juveniles will view this as a positive experience. Although participation in a program of this type does not guarantee eliminating inappropriate behavior, it will certainly curtail this behavior. Perhaps, between the moment of thinking of the unlawful act, and actually acting on the thought, the juvenile will indeed reflect on this work experience, and choose not to proceed with the act.