AG 1997 12 15 - Laserfiche WebLink

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4A PROGRAM NARRATIVE The Cabarrus Coun0' Juvenile Services Restitution Program proposes to provide the vehicle whereby juvenile offenders o£ the law are held accountable for their behavior by working at various public service agencies (worksites) to earn monetao' restitution for their victims. The juvenile ma)' earn $4.50/hour, with the opportunity of earniug an amount of $200 dollars. There will be no direct payment of earnings to the ju~'eniles for '~ork &~ne. R:stitut!en ',;eu!d ~'e addresse~ by debiting payment or' earnings to the juveniles For work done. Restitution ..vc~uld I:e [~dd:es~cd by ~i¢bi~ip.g monies earned by the jm'eniles from thc "restitution bank" lin~ item; based on the number of hov. rs the juve:~ile has wdrked and for~arded directly to the victim for the juvenile's restitution debt. Checks for x'icti!il rcst[~:'..;:.on ~vi:l }:e through the county manager's or, ce. In an attempt to hold the jm'enile acccutmtbic icr [fis/~:er bq-h,:vior, the ma)- be ordered to perform uncompensated community service work, when no restitution [s owed to th: victim..-Uso, a juvenile may be ordered to perform communi0' service even if he/she has been ordered to PT,' rcstitudc~n. The Program Manager is responsible for providing overall ~dmlaistration 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 funding source, monitoring program expenditures, continuous efforts to enhance the effectiveness and services of the program, 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 jm'enile delinquent for having committed some property damage, personal injury or related offense and hah ordered an amount of restitution to be paid by the juvenile and/or required the juvenile to work a specific number of uncompensated commurlJty ser~ce hours. Each juvenile will have a conference with their court co. nqelor and community service rep[esentative 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 fi-om 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 juveuile may then be placed for work with monitoring of his/her progress. Ail work is done at the participating .worksite. . . SupervSsion 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 sm.ff. 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 ff the juvenile needs to be unsuccessfiflly terminated fi'om the program. If the juvenile is unsuccessfully t~minated, he/she will have gone through a series of steps before being discharged. The tim step, a vefoal warning, is given. The Community Service staff discuss problems w/th 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 s~aff, with the Court Counselor. The lhird action would be termination form the Restitution Plogram upon r~riew with the Chief Court Cotmselor. Termination is via conference, visit, telephone call, or letter. The kinds of behavior that warrant an unsuccessful termination is: showing up consistently late for work, or not showing at alt, leaving work early, not performing assigned duties, showing disrespect for supervisors, violence at the work.site, alcohol or drugs used at the worksite, and breakiug any taws while in the Program If a child is successfully terminated, however, he/she will receive a letter of congratulations fi-om the Restitution Program Manager. Overall, the Restitution Program hopes to average a success rate of 85%. It is believed that maW juveniles will not become further involved in the court system after their experience with the program. Juveniles will view this as a positive exporienco. 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 unlaxnSfl act, and actually acting on the thought, the ju~'enilc wilt indeed reflect on this work experience, and choose not to proceed with the act.