Juvenile Probation Programs
Juvenile probation entails a form of juvenile sentencing that enables juvenile offenders to remain in their societies. Juvenile probation is primarily the widely used program whereby various court-ordered services are facilitated. Approximate 70% of juveniles that are arrested tend to be placed on probation. The juvenile offenders, however, are not placed in new homes. Probation may be incorporated for low-risk and first-time offenders or alternatives for serial offenders. In some incidences, probation tends to be voluntary, where the youth agrees to adhere to the informal probation set time rather than formal adjudication. The courts decide if the juvenile is fit for probation or not. However, the court may formulate terms and conditions that must be adhered to by the juvenile offender appropriately. For instance, these terms may entail: reporting to the probation officer daily alongside attending all the classes. The juvenile on probation may report to their place of work, but only after the probation officer monitors and approves the workplace. The paper aims to compare and contrast the juvenile drug courts and the student assistance of juvenile probation programs, encompassing the goals, successes, and failures of each program. It also outlines recommendations that aim at bettering the most appropriate juvenile probation program.
The Juvenile Drug Courts
The Juvenile Drug Courts is a renowned program set up by juvenile justice and delinquency prevention to facilitate specialized support services to the youths alongside their families, who have been engaged in the use of drugs. These programs were formulated for the sake of adult offenders and became effective. The procedure of this juvenile program entails juvenile and delinquency judges’ maintaining intact contact and engagement of individual juvenile through the regular meetings (Hodge, Holsinger & Maziarka, 2015). To help with the rehabilitation, a support team is formed that involves representatives from the treatment, juvenile justice, social services, school and vocational training programs, law enforcement, probation, prosecution, and the defense.
The juvenile drug courts are key to facilitating substance abuse treatment sanctions alongside the measures to rehabilitate nonviolent drug-engaged youth, empower families to support them in the process, and avoid recidivism incidences. Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s office sponsored a multisite examination of juvenile drug courts to assess these courts’ capability to minimize recidivism, enhance the social functioning of youths, and determine if these programs adopt evidence-based practices in their treatment services (Belenko, 2016). However, in drug courts, juveniles tend to have higher recidivism levels than youth in probation.
An effective plan is formulated within the team, and its progress is assessed collectively. These programs are financed by grants from the government through the Department of Justice, with the objective of early intervention for first-time offenders. This program mainly targets juvenile offenders who are primary misdemeanor violators. The objective is to help offenders develop new skills and maturity, which are all essential in the prevention of more criminal activity engagement. For the essence of helping youth in developing these skills and assess progress, the Juvenile Drug Court facilitates case management services attained from a private entity that conducts frequent urine screenings, court reporting alongside as individual to accompany tents to their monthly court reporting (Johnson, Hubbard & Latessa, 2016). The program maintains that juveniles maintain sobriety, attend to their monthly treatment sessions, and avoid any criminal activity engagement. Non-compliance, however, does not always lead to termination. For the essence of graduating from drug court, the youth have to complete all of the plan requirements and to adhere to the program guidelines for a particular time.
Student Assistance Program
On the other side, there is a student assistance program. These programs established the goal of Enhancing the corporation and communication between school districts and probation departments, facilitating learning institutions with other strategies for countering students who project exhibit behavioral issues or students who are suspended or have been expelled from their learning institutions. The juvenile, justice and delinquency prevention portrays that these programs are effective since there is a close co-existence established between the juvenile system, law enforcement officials alongside the social agencies and families (Weaver & Campbell, 2015). In partnerships with the relevant departments, the program was established primarily for the juvenile delinquents within the school system that came up with a plan for offending students that enhanced forward progress using team planning-a move that strengthens positive reinforcement.
The appropriate version of the Student Assistance Program is a methodological approach that uses techniques to organize the present educational resources and eliminate any restrictions that may prevent the students from learning effectively. The root of the program is a group of experts that involves school staff and associates from the community rehabilitation programs, for instance, alcohol and drug prevention and mental health agencies.
There are four levels to the model. This entails referral, team planning, interventions alongside recommendations, and support, and follow-up. The expert individuals of the group are effectively trained in cognitive behavior treatment techniques that aid in changing the juveniles’ traits through positive reinforcement. The program enables parents to have full aces to the school reports since it is their federal right to become engaged in the rehabilitation of their children; the process motivates parent engagement. For students receiving treatment in a community entity, the student’s assistance team tends to collaborate with the community agency to develop an in-school support program that aids the students and parents to eliminate any existing restrictions that are inhibiting positive school performance. The downside of the student assistance program is that the support team experts have to be effectively trained and work in synch-regularly these programs are not effective since members of the team do not communicate with one another for the essence of maintaining the foundation of support for the student.
In comparing the two different programs for juvenile delinquent rehabilitation, I feel that the Students Assistance Program facilitates a more enhanced environment for the students. This program facilitates instruction through positive reinforcement and empowers students through consistency. A primary concept is to facilitate real-life opportunities that motivate real-life practice. These programs are propelled to provide students with positive role models that project effective information, precise expectations, motivation towards independence, life skills training alongside a balanced system addressing personal concerns. The student is not rehabilitated due to the fear of prompt jail time: they have the support of a team of experts in a positive environment with educational tools at their disposal.
The Drug Courts Programs though effective for some juveniles, have projected their capability to enhance the statistics. However, in more significant populations, an approach primarily within the court system would not facilitate positive reinforcement on a personal level since the number of offenders would be higher. These students would not have the educational resources primarily available to the students, nor would a solid individualized educational plan be established in an environment that the student could start the application: hence the immediate benefits. The absence of individualized care alongside the number of juveniles within the system would only enhance the likelihood of failure.
It is essential to incorporate the educational institution into a juvenile’s rehabilitation program to facilitate the students’ immediate opportunities to apply what they have learned. There needs to be a setup framework that would facilitate the effective adoption of the educational institution into the juvenile rehabilitation program (Jewell, Malone, Rose, Sturgeon & Owens, 2015). This may be overseen by a professional to ensure that the juveniles benefit from the program after a particular period. Enough resources must be set aside to ensure that the educational institution effectively fits into the juvenile program, thus enhancing the success of the juvenile program that the juveniles are enrolled in. The provision of education is imperative for students to succeed in the real universe, and to facilitate immediate access to this environment alongside having an effective trained group to support the juvenile, rehabilitation is likely.
References
Belenko, S. (2016). Research on drug courts: A critical review 2001 update.
Hodge, J. P., Holsinger, K., & Maziarka, K. (2015). Assessing the status of gender-specific programs through the lens of juvenile justice staff. Women & Criminal Justice, 25(3), 184-200.
Jewell, J. D., Malone, M. D., Rose, P., Sturgeon, D., & Owens, S. (2015). A multiyear follow-up study is examining the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral group therapy program on the recidivism of juveniles on probation. International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology, 59(3), 259-272.
Johnson, S., Hubbard, D. J., & Latessa, E. (2016). Drug courts and treatment: Lessons to be learned from the” what works” literature.
Weaver, R. D., & Campbell, D. (2015). Fresh start: a meta-analysis of aftercare programs for juvenile offenders. Research on Social Work Practice, 25(2), 201-212.