The juvenile justice system has a lenient way of handling juvenile delinquents that is different from the treatment adult offenders receive. However, the system can take more severe action, like detention, if a minor commits a serious or violent felony. Detention is more or less the same as imprisonment for adult offenders. Juvenile offenders are held in secure facilities for a predetermined period. The main intention of these interventions is to ensure minors receive treatment and rehabilitation to correct their behavior for a crime-free adult life.

However, the efficacy of these detention facilities has been criticized for a long time. Many believe that instead of reporting positive results from minors who have served time in these facilities, the juvenile justice system has seen an increase in recidivism. It is believed that some juveniles have suffered psychological and physical harm in these facilities.

To remedy the situation, local and state governments have started community programs to ensure that the mandate of the juvenile justice system is achieved in the end. These programs help young offenders receive the treatment and rehabilitation they require and reintegrate into their community at the end of their programs. They are aimed at deterring crime and reducing recidivism among youngsters.

If your child is a suspected juvenile delinquent, you are advised to do everything possible to help them change their behavior and reduce the likelihood of reoffending. These programs can work very well for you, your loved one, and your family. You can speak to an experienced criminal attorney to better understand your options and make better decisions.

The Aim of Community-Based Correction Programs for Juvenile Offenders

The juvenile justice system has been working hard to reduce crime rates among youth. The system uses various interventions to achieve its goal, including detention. The judge decides on the appropriate disposition after hearing a juvenile’s case, studying the evidence, and reviewing the probation officer’s report. Sometimes, even youngsters who commit nonviolent offenses are placed in detention. Judges consider several factors when deciding on a minor’s case, including their history of delinquency and the specifics of the underlying issue. 

Detention facilities for minors are not as lenient as expected. They are like adult prisons. Even though the intention of sending juvenile offenders to detention facilities is to rehabilitate them, little behavior change is observed at the end of the detention period. The truth is that incarcerating minors does not help much in preventing criminal activity in the future. If anything, it increases a minor’s chances of reoffending. It means that holding juvenile offenders in detention facilities is not working. The authorities need a different approach to stop or minimize juvenile crime.

Community-based correction programs have been designed for this purpose. Locking juvenile offenders up for a predetermined period and hoping they will receive treatment and rehabilitation is no longer a good idea. Instead, they can participate in a community program that offers what they require to achieve positive results in their behavior. These community programs use local community networks and resources to rehabilitate juvenile offenders.

Community programs for juvenile offenders that have been operating have so far reported positive results in combating crime among the youth and encouraging positive conduct. They allow the participation of everyone in the community, including parents, in ensuring that juvenile offenders do not reoffend again.

Examples of these programs are discussed below:

Prevention or Early Intervention Community Program

Not all minors arrested for committing a crime deserve to go through the juvenile justice system. The system is long and tedious and can hurt a juvenile. Sometimes, the police intervene before the booking process, especially if there is hope for the child to receive help and rehabilitation without going through the adjudication and disposition processes.

Juveniles who go through this program are low-level offenders. The police refer them to the program organizers after their arrest. The program aims to protect minors from the harsh justice system, allowing them to rethink their lives and make positive changes.

Program organizers work hard to ensure that juveniles under their care receive help from local institutions and a chance to think of their actions, consequences, and how they can act differently. However, the program works better for low-level, at-risk offenders, who will likely benefit more from preventive or early intervention programs.

In addition to preventive measures, the program offers evaluation, early intervention, and diversion programs. That reduces a juvenile’s possibility of recidivism. The program also addresses individual needs and provides treatment and education that meet those specific needs.

Offender-Victim Mediation Programs

In most cases, the victims and their families are the ones who advocate for punishment and stiffer measures for juvenile offenders. They do so to take revenge for the wrongs done to them by the juveniles. However, a desire for revenge can ruin a minor’s entire life. That is why community-based program organizers have also thought of mediation programs to converge juvenile delinquents and those who have suffered from their criminal actions.

However, the offender and the victim, or the victim’s family, must voluntarily come forward seeking intervention for the mediation to work. A law enforcement or probation officer can request that the victim and/or their family consent to join the program. They can join the program if they agree and the offender is ready to go through the mediation process.

Part of the program includes the victim coming forward to explain how the offender’s actions impacted their life. It helps the offender realize how impactful their actions are and why they must change their behavior to avoid similar consequences in the future. By witnessing how they impacted the victim, the offender can make a solid decision to behave differently in the future.

Mediation also promotes forgiveness and healed relationships between and among families.

The DA’s Truancy Abatement Program

The TAP is a community program launched by the DA’s office in 1994. That was after school districts sought help in executing education regulations. Truancy is a serious issue that the school district feels must be addressed with the urgency it deserves.

The law requires all children from six to eighteen to attend school daily and do it on time. Even with transparent rules, school districts still register many truancy cases. A student is considered a truant if the following is true:

  • They fail to attend school for three days without a reasonable excuse and/or
  • They are late to school for more than 30 minutes on three or more occasions.

School districts also have habitual truants who:

  • Fail to attend school for six days or more without a proper excuse and/or
  • Are at least thirty minutes late more than six times.
  • The school has attempted to meet with the truant’s parent once or several times.

This program provides school staff with the skills and knowledge to handle minors who frequently miss school. For example, the school needs to meet with the child’s family to understand the cause and devise a solution. Trained school workers can also identify possible solutions for specific cases, including directing the family to community support programs that could help their situation.

Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY) Program

FLY was an initiative in 2000 to end juvenile crime patterns, youth violence, and detention. The program’s mission is to work closely with the youths to unlock their potential and disrupt patterns of criminal behavior and anything else that could result in incarceration. It also aims at improving the juvenile justice system.

The program’s vision is a country where all children are supported and valued, and the pipeline to incarceration is replaced with reasonable opportunities for the children to enjoy free, healthy, and productive lives.

FLY caters to juveniles aged twelve to eighteen, primarily those on probation after committing a crime or in detention under the juvenile justice system. These are mainly juveniles with behavioral issues, placing them at a greater risk of committing crimes.

Once these minors join the program, they receive the support and drive to stay out of crime. They are also assisted in returning to school and, in any other way, changing their lives. The program achieves these by offering leadership skills, legal training, and individual mentorship.

FLY has a vital law program for juveniles at risk of committing a crime. If your loved one has had an encounter with the justice system or is at risk of having this encounter in the future, they can benefit from understanding how the system works, their rights, and their options. The program offers legal education and life skills for a semester. Within that period, they learn about the law, the justice system, and the consequences of engaging in crime.

The program organizers use role-play, debates, and mock trials to engage juveniles and encourage the growth of exemplary life skills, including the following:

  • Anger management.
  • Problem-solving.
  • Empathy.
  • Ability to handle negative peer pressure.

This makes the program likely to be successful, even for minors at higher crime risk.

The Leadership Program

After completing the Fly Law program, young people can join the Leadership program if they require additional help changing their lives. This program is available throughout the year, offering various assessments to help identify the difficulties young people are experiencing in living a self-sufficient and crime-free life. Once they identify these difficulties, the young people sit with an FLY case manager or mentor to help them design and implement a personal plan. Mentors and managers continue offering support until the youth under the program successfully implement the designed plan to achieve the desired results in their lives.

Under this program, the young people also undergo leadership training through wilderness retreats. These retreats help foster communication skills, cooperation, healthy interactions, and self-confidence. The Fly and Leadership Program participants work together in developing service tasks and participating in superior social programs, where they master skills to use and enhance their leadership abilities.

Project YEA

The Youth Advocacy for Education Rights is a project by different organizations working together for a common agenda. They cater to the needs of juveniles in various capacities. The youths who enter this initiative receive specialized education in various life aspects. Here are some of the objectives for which the project operates:

  • Training social workers and probation officers to impart them with the skills and knowledge to locate youths who need specialized services.
  • Ensuring that youths identified and chosen for the project are examined for impairments and receive the services and support they need.
  • Ensuring parents or legal guardians know the opportunities available for their loved ones. For example, parents can request testing for their loved ones. They can also guide their children to access the services they need.

The project’s primary role is to ensure that the people who help parents provide the best education for their children have the skills and knowledge they need. With the right skills, social workers and probation officers can support parents and offer precisely what their children need to live crime-free lives.

To achieve its goals and objectives, the YEA project does the following:

  • It consults with the people involved in minor’s lives, including probation officers, social workers, and parents or guardians. They also consult with the children to understand their exact needs.
  • It attends IEP meetings on behalf of the children (Individualized Education Programs).
  • Talking to children’s teachers and monitoring their performance in schools.
  • Assists children and their parents in resolving underlying issues that could impact their performance.
  • Checking minors’ eligibility for examination and specialized education.
  • Monitoring the children’s education plan to ensure they are obtaining the assistance and support they need.

Pre-Adjudication Community Alternatives

Once a minor is arrested for a crime, several other processes occur before they go through adjudication. This is the process by which the judge determines whether to dismiss or sustain the petition against the minor. It is like a criminal trial, in which a defendant is determined guilty or not guilty. Luckily, there are several community options that your child can choose from before the adjudication process. These options help the minor adhere to the terms of their release from detention, live a crime-free life, and appear in all court hearings.

For example, your child can participate in an evening reporting center like a conventional court. Successful participation in this center can help your child avoid undergoing a pre-trial. The centers are open in the afternoon after school and are accessible until the evening. Facilities like these help juveniles complete their school homework, receive education or training, and satisfy the conditions of their release, like participating in community service. They also serve hot meals. The staff keeps track of the juveniles’ school attendance and performance and can facilitate transport to and from school.

In most cases, minors are sent home to their parents before adjudication. A probation officer ensures that the minor abides by specific conditions to avoid legal trouble before their case is heard and determined in a juvenile court. Once the minor is sent home, they must adhere to a curfew, avoid some places and people, and attend school without fail. Your child could also be required to wear a monitoring device that allows the court to track their movement.

Some juvenile delinquents are placed in shelter facilities awaiting adjudication. This is in cases where the judge does not want to incarcerate the minor, but the minor’s home environment is not conducive to achieving the desired results. Placement in a shelter is usually temporary.

Post-Adjudication Community Alternatives

After the adjudication, the judge made the final ruling in a juvenile’s case. The petition against them is sustained or dismissed based on the available evidence. If the judge dismisses the plea, the minor returns home and to their life, forgetting the legal matter. But if the judge sustains their petition, the minor proceeds through the court process until the judge finally deserves what is best for them according to their needs and the services available.

Fortunately, community alternatives are available for juveniles whose petitions the court sustains. These alternatives do not include incarceration but encourage treatment and rehabilitation. For example, this program offers multisystemic therapy for serious repeat juvenile offenders through skilled therapists who avail themselves of the children and their families around the clock. The therapists help young offenders continue school, change their attitude towards crime, and communicate better with their families and community. Children in these programs are also assisted in enhancing their educational performance. To avoid reoffending, therapists can help a child and the family create and sustain support networks.

Functional Family Therapy, or FFT, is an excellent alternative to incarceration. Juveniles go through thirty hours of family counseling by a designated therapist. The aim is to help the minor and the family improve family communication, parenting, and anger and conflict management.

Find a Competent Criminal Lawyer Near Me

If your child has trouble with the law in Los Angeles, the last thing you want is to see them behind bars. Incarceration does not necessarily produce positive results in children. If anything, it causes them to become rebellious and increases their likelihood of reoffending.

It helps to know about community programs that are available for juvenile delinquents. These programs can help produce even better results for your child without incarceration. Our skilled attorneys at Los Angeles Criminal Attorney can help you understand your child’s options based on their case and history of delinquency. We can also support you through all legal processes to ensure you receive the best possible outcome for your loved one’s situation. Call us at 424-333-0943 to learn more.