Services Overview 

 

Why juvenile services?

Jasper County Juvenile Office programs and services promote positive youth outcomes, increase public safety, and strengthen families and neighborhoods through intervention, prevention, and collaborative partnerships.

 

Intervention:

Intervention programs serve justice-involved youth and their families. Our intervention services integrate evidence-based programs and practices addressing the criminogenic needs of the youth offender while supporting the family in adapting to the pro-social changes in their child’s behavior. Intervention services include:

Youth Crossroads: Jasper County Juvenile Office Program Team is trained to deliver the National Curriculum and Training Institute’s (NCTI) Youth Crossroads offense-specific risk-leveled cognitive curricula directed toward changing juvenile offender behaviors.

Each curriculum contains components necessary for behavior change including anger management, values clarification, development of a pro-social support group, positive family contacts, and skills to attain education completion and gainful employment. Classes range from ten to fifteen weeks/2 hours per week.

Every Youth Crossroads class has a corresponding parent/guardian component that equips families with tools and resources to participate in the behavior change process and effectively advocate for their child.

Parent Project: Jasper County Juvenile Office Program Team is trained to deliver Parent Project, an intervention program addressing the most destructive of adolescent behaviors including: arguing and family conflict, childhood trauma, poor school performance, truancy and dropouts, media influences, early teen sexuality, teen drug use, youth gangs, teen violence and bullying, and runaways. Classes are thirteen weeks/2 hours per week.

Youth/Family Curriculum currently offered:

  • Youth Crossroads Medium Risk Delinquent Behavior and Parent Project for parents/caregivers.

  • Youth Crossroads Medium Risk Cognitive Life Skills and Parent Project for parents/caregivers.

  • Youth Crossroads Medium Risk Drugs & Alcohol and Drug Use & Active Supervision for parents/caregivers.

  • Youth Crossroads Medium Risk Truancy and Preparing Our Kids for Success for parents/caregivers.

Prevention:

Prevention services are aimed at youth who are not involved in the juvenile justice system but are at risk of involvement. Because the family plays the most important role in the prevention of child and juvenile delinquency, our prevention strategies focus on a family-centered approach.

Loving Solutions: Jasper County Juvenile Office Program Team is certified to deliver and to train other facilitators to deliver Loving Solutions, a parenting program for moms, dads, foster parents, grandparents, adoptive parents and any other caregiver raising tough kids 5 to 10 years-old.  Classes are ten weeks/ 2 hours per week.

Coffee Talk: Coffee Talk is a Jasper County Juvenile Office initiative aimed at decreasing absenteeism and increasing school engagement. Targeted participants are parents/caregivers of Jasper County elementary school students identified with chronic absenteeism. Participants will learn and understand the importance of school attendance and the adverse impact of missing too much school. Participants will acknowledge hurdles that keep their children from getting to school every day and be connected with resources to overcome these hurdles.

 

Collaborative Partnerships:

Our collaborative partnerships help provide a broader range of services and increases access to services.

Safe Dates: In partnership with Lafayette House Prevention Education Program, Safe Dates addresses teen dating violence, promoting healthy relationships in early adolescence. Safe Dates dives deeper into types of abuse including physical, psychological, sexual, and technological. Students learn and discuss the causes of abuse, dating violence, and prevention techniques. They identify harm abuse causes to the victim and abuser and ways to advocate for themselves.

Online Marijuana Prevention: In partnership with Johnny’s Ambassadors youth can access this self-paced, research-based, evidence-informed, direct-to-teen curriculum designed to educate and prevent marijuana use and raise awareness. The intent is to reduce the gap between the perceived and actual harm of marijuana and lower the use. They also provide a parallel track for parents and concerned adults.

Vaping – Know the Truth: In partnership with Truth Initiative youth can access this prevention-forward digital learning experience which gives today’s students core knowledge around the dangers associated with using e-cigarettes and offers resources to help young people quit if they already vape.

Compass: In partnership with LifeChoices Health Network Prevention Services, Compass is a 5-day, adolescent sexual risk avoidance program for 7th, 8th, and 9th grade students. The curriculum is medically accurate and age-appropriate, taught by trained community educators who bring a passion for the students and an in-depth knowledge into the classroom.

 

Continued Development:

To address risk, need, and responsivity in programming, we utilize a program referral process that helps ensure proper program placement, assists juvenile officers define and document case plan goals, and guides the program team in developing programs and services needed for the changing nature of juvenile offenders.