Juvenile Court Array of Interventions

Fairfield County Array of Interventions

Juvenile Court Array of Services provided by Fairfield County Juvenile Court.

 

Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI)

Fairfield County Juvenile Court is a Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) court. Supported by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, JDAI is one of the nation’s most successful and widespread juvenile justice system reform initiatives. The focus of JDAI is to reduce reliance on juvenile detention where youth have often been needlessly detained with longterm negative consequences for both public safety and youth development.

 

JDAI was created to significantly and safely reduce detention populations through appropriate screening, assessment, and placement into detention alternatives.

 

While JDAI’s efforts are primarily focused on the detention phase, detention reform is a major catalyst for other changes in juvenile justice which include the following Core Strategies:

 

• Promoting collaboration between juvenile court officials, probation agencies, prosecutors, defense attorneys, schools, community organizations and advocates;
• Using data collection and analysis to guide decision-making;
• Implementing alternatives to detention programs in lieu of locked detention;
• Utilizing objective admissions criteria and risk assessment instruments to reduce subjective decision-making regarding placement in secure detention facilities;
• Instituting case processing reforms to expedite the flow of cases through the system;
• Reducing the number of youth detained for probation violations or failing to appear in court and the number held in detention awaiting transfer to a residential facility;
• Combatting racial and ethnic disparities by examining data to identify policies and practices that may disadvantage youth based on race ethnicity;
• Monitoring and improving conditions of confinement in detention facilities.

 

During 2024, two primary focus areas for the Court under JDAI were school attendance and detention screening. Engagement and collaboration with community partners on work in both of these focus areas resulted in positive planning and action steps that would continue into early 2025.

 

Assessment Center

 

The Assessment Center (AC) is part of the Fairfield County Juvenile Court Resource Center (RC) located in Connexion West, a community center located in a former elementary school in Lancaster.

 

The AC provides individualized screening, processing, and referral of at-risk youth and juvenile offenders. Staff respond to immediate crises as well as ongoing needs of youth and their families while increasing law enforcement availability to the community through provision of timely service.

 

The Assessment Center partners with community-based agencies to provide coordinated best-practice and cost-effective responses, services and resources to youth and their families — including screenings, assessments, and referrals.

 

The AC has a dual goal:

 

• Prevent the progression of behaviors that put the youth at risk of juvenile justice involvement.
• Prevent the use of secure detention for youth who can be safely served while maintaining family stability.

The AC process for law enforcement agencies begins with an officer or deputy bringing an at-risk youth to the Center. The youth’s parents/guardians are contacted to come in as well. As RC staff begin their assessment, the law enforcement official can clear the case and return to duty.

 

RC staff provide Assessment Services after hours to law enforcement via phone through On-Call Services. There are several possible outcomes of this initial referral, as based on results of the screenings and interview:

1. Youth returns home with parent/ caregiver; or

2. Youth stays with relative/other adult overnight; or

3. Youth may be taken to detention by Court staff; or

4. Emergency respite may be provided.

The Assessment Center staff interact with the Fairfield County Prosecutor to determine if a case can be diverted, should be formally filed, or will be handled informally.

Diversion Services

Diversion Services incorporates a vast variety of interventions that may be utilized both within the Court (General Diversion, Safe Harbor Diversion, School Attendance and Engagement, Mediation Services) and community as alternatives to formal case processing of a youth or family. The intervention utilized is dependent upon the offense, extent of harm to victim or community, and risk of the youth to reoffend.

 

Extensive research conducted during the past 25 years shows that juvenile offenders deemed at low risk for reoffending benefit most from minimal court intervention. Conversely, research indicates that providing intensive monitoring and treatment to low-risk youth can have a detrimental impact on them. Diversion Services accepts referrals directly from the County Prosecutor or from the Judge/Magistrate when a youth:

• Is alleged to have committed an offense that can range from a status offense to a misdemeanor,
• Admits to the offense,
• Is deemed at low or moderate risk of reoffending as determined through administration of the Ohio Youth Assessment System (OYAS) questionnaire.

In a diversion case, the delinquency or unruly matter proceeds through informal processing as opposed to adjudication. Since 2022, youth are no longer ordered to Diversion once they have entered the Courtroom. If a case is referred from the Judge or Magistrate, the matter has already been filed formally. The youth then enters an admission or is found delinquent or unruly; the disposition order is completion of Diversion Services.

 

Diversion also provides the youth and their family an opportunity to access needed resources, with the goal of preventing further involvement with the juvenile justice system while allowing the youth to acknowledge responsibility for their actions.

 

When a youth is referred to Diversion Services, a comprehensive interview with the juvenile and parent(s) is scheduled and facilitated by a Diversion Case Manager. During the assessment interview, the Diversion Case Manager gathers information regarding school behavior, academic challenges, peer relations, and family dynamics while also identifying the strengths of the youth and family.

 

In addition, specific screenings are administered for mental health and substance abuse issues, as well as prior or current exposure to trauma. If concerns are identified that may indicate a need for intervention, the Case Manager refers the youth and family to appropriate resources; these recommendations are included in the youth’s Diversion Contract.

 

Other terms of a youth’s Diversion Contract may include the completion of an apology letter, an essay relative to the offense, payment of restitution directly to the victim, community service, referral to mentoring opportunities, or referral to other programs offered through the Court or within the community.

 

These terms are included within the contract as a means of restoration for a victim and to enhance the youth’s protective factors in the areas of work, education, relationships, community, health, and creativity.

 

Youth who are accepted into Diversion Services remain with the department until all terms of the agreed-upon contract are fulfilled. Upon Diversion completion, which averages 90 days, the youth is successfully terminated, and their record is sealed if formally filed. The amount of time between successful termination and sealing of a Diversion case depends on the level of the offense and whether the youth reoffends during a specified period of time. If a youth fails to complete the terms of the contract or commits a subsequent offense while in Diversion, the case can be terminated unsuccessfully and returned to the Prosecutor for formal processing or is returned to the Court for further orders if already adjudicated.

NEW in 2024!

Diversion Services began development of a new intervention in fourth quarter 2024: Restorative Justice Circles. The concept of Restorative Justice is ages old and can be found throughout much of the world’s cultures and history. Restorative Justice focuses on three core pillars:

• addressing harm and needs,
• accountability and responsibility,
• and engagement in the process.

 

The purpose of Circles of Restoration is to provide a space for youth engaging in delinquent behavior where there is an identifiable victim an opportunity to be held accountable for their actions and to understand the implications of those actions in an age-appropriate and developmentally informed way.

Safe Harbor

Ohio consistently ranks in the top 10 states in the country for reported human trafficking cases, a 2024 UC Health article said. In 2019, University of Cincinnati researchers identified 4,209 youth in Ohio at risk as victims of domestic minor sex trafficking. This staggering number affects every area of the state, including Fairfield County.

 

Human trafficking of women and children is a reality for the Fairfield County community. Trafficking in a rural setting may look different than it does in larger urban communities, but its prevalence is increasing. Ranging from the traditional out-of-state runaway arrested at an airport to young people living in hotels with no visible means of support or parent engagement, these cases were the impetus to an initiative led by Juvenile Court. Community partners that joined the initiative include Protective Services, the Community Action Homeless Youth Program, Family and Children First Council, as well as Gracehaven in Columbus.

 

The name Safe Harbor comes from Ohio legislation that provides special handling of these cases. Safe Harbor automatically diverts some charges, such as prostitution and soliciting. In rural Ohio, juveniles typically do not receive those types of charges. However, charges of truancy, theft, and runaway/unruly youth are red flags for possible human trafficking. National and other Ohio best practice protocols were used to develop the Court’s Safe Harbor program. Cases diverted through Safe Harbor receive behavioral health assessments and referrals, skill-building, Protective Services involvement, empowerment and support for the youth, and support in addressing charges they did receive.

 

Once confirmed into Safe Harbor, the youth is considered a victim or survivor of human trafficking. The Court’s Behavioral Health team developed a human trafficking screening protocol for all youth who interact with the Court, regardless of which pathway they enter the Court.

School Attendance and Engagement

The catastrophic effect of COVID 19 on school attendance continued to be seen in 2024. Ohio Department of Education data shows that 25 percent of Ohio Students are missing 10 percent of the school year. Due to the April 2017 implementation of HB 410 school attendance (truancy) legislation, responsibility for early intervention for school attendance was assigned to the schools. Juvenile Court partnered with each school district to support individual youth school attendance intervention plans. Youth who subsequently receive truancy charges were then served through the Court’s Diversion programs when at all possible.

 

Through a community partnership with Fairfield County Family and Children First Council, a community-based school attendance intervention was implemented in October 2022. This diverts families challenged with school attendance issues to the Council, where they are assessed to determine the needs of the youth/family and address underlying concerns that may be contributing to the youth’s lack of school attendance. Through this effort, vulnerable families can receive needed service linkage and collaboration of community providers without having to be under any form of Court supervision.

 

During 2024, a Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) primary focus area was to review and revamp this community intervention to better serve youth and families. Among those gathered for discussions and planning were representatives from the Court, Fairfield County Educational Service Center, school districts, prosecutors, Protective Services, and workforce development. Rollout of modifications was slated for early 2025.

Mediation

Mediation is offered to youth who may otherwise incur a formal charge of disorderly conduct, misdemeanor assault, criminal mischief/damaging, menacing, or other misdemeanor offenses that do not pose a serious threat to the community or to themselves. A trained on-staff Mediator can conduct mediations via Zoom to be more accessible to the community.

 

Referrals come from the Fairfield County Prosecutor’s Office, a Juvenile Court judicial officer, Court Services, or Diversion.

 

Research has shown that youth who engage in physical conflict benefit from learning alternative ways to resolve issues with their peers. It offers both (or additional) parties an opportunity to identify their conflict, own their own part in the conflict, and work toward an understanding of the other person’s point of view. Mediation offers an identified victim a chance to ask questions that only the offender can answer—such as the how and why of the offense. Mediation is also an opportunity for the victim to express frustrations and concerns. Mediation gives the offender a chance to take responsibility for their actions by facing the victim and working together to create an agreement that is acceptable to all parties.

 

The goal of the agreement reached through the process is to restore in some manner what was lost by the victim. The Mediation Agreement also makes the offender personally accountable for the loss, injury, or damage done against the victim. Once a youth completes the Mediation process and, if they experience no further conflicts for a period of at least 30 days, the matter is closed successfully, and no formal charges are filed.

Court Services

The Court Services Department was created in 2022 to allow all youth facing formally filed delinquency charges to be managed in a single department. Additionally, that youth and family can typically work with a single case manager from the time the case is filed until the youth completes his or her involvement with the Court. Previously, services and functions now under Court Services were divided between the Intake and Assessment and Probation departments.

 

The Court Services structure has helped foster strong bonds between youth and Case Managers and has enhanced the ability to address any barriers to youth and family success. Immediately following the formal filing of a charge by the Prosecutor, a Court Services Case Manager is assigned to evaluate the risk level and needs of the juvenile. As part of this process, the Case Manager contacts the family to gather preliminary information about family background, education, mental health and/or substance abuse issues, and pro-social activities.

 

The staff member also meets with the family at the time of the initial hearing, while providing a brief update to the Court during the hearing. The judicial officer may find that no further formal Court involvement is necessary and order a Pre-Adjudication/Disposition intervention, as described in the Court Services Array of Interventions. Typically, however, the case will go through a lengthier formal process.

 

As the case moves through the formal legal process, the Case Manager continues to work closely with the youth and family and also assesses the long-term needs of the youth. As part of this process, multiple evidence-based tools are used, including the Ohio Youth Assessment System (OYAS), the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument (MAYSI-2), and the Child Trauma Screen. Additionally, the Case Manager contacts collateral sources (for which releases of information have been signed by the parent or guardian) including schools, counselors, and others to gather more information.

 

In most cases, all of the information described above is compiled into a Pre-Disposition Report (PDR) which includes recommendations for further monitoring and intervention. The PDR is distributed to the judicial staff, prosecutors, the attorney and Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) for the youth and typically guides the Court in making appropriate orders for the youth. Generally, the PDR will recommend one of several specific interventions which are described on page 18 in the

Court Services Array of Interventions.

Detention

Research on the impact of detention on adolescent development and mental health indicates that its use increases the likelihood of recidivism and negatively affects future employment and educational opportunities. At Fairfield County Juvenile Court, detention is considered only after other graduated sanctions have been attempted. While placement in secure detention may be ordered for up to 90 days per charge or violation, it is used primarily as a short term sanction when the youth is a danger to themself or the community, or when the youth is at risk of absconding.