What Are the Duties of a Juvenile Justice Probation Officer in Pennsylvania?
- Pennsylvania juvenile probation officers manage paperwork.paperwork 2 image by chrisharvey from Fotolia.com
Juvenile probation officers in Pennsylvania monitor youthful offenders between the ages of 10 to 17 through community supervision. Probation assists adolescents in remaining crime-free and in learning effective life skills. As such, juvenile probation officers (JPOs) play an important role in the rehabilitation of the juvenile, acting as a teacher, life coach, mentor and policeman when needed. Pennsylvania JPOs serve in several roles, and while these overlap somewhat, each role works distinctively to enhance community supervision. Some JPOs in Pennsylvania may supervise adults as well. - The JPO determines a supervision strategy to assist the offender, also known as the defendant, toward achievable probation outcomes. Pennsylvania mandates balanced goals of offender accountability, community safety and victim restoration. Pennsylvania formal JPOs perform many of the same job duties as JPOs in jurisdictions nationwide such as monitoring, educating, documenting, report writing, testifying, data collecting and transporting.
According to Pennsylvania legislation, formal JPOs in Pennsylvania may search any child under their supervision. They may also search children during intakes, transportation or in custody. They conduct periodic property searches and attend training. - Specialized juvenile probation caseloads include aftercare, school-based probation, community-based probation and intensive and specialized-intensive probation.
The community-based JPO interacts with parents, schools, victims and other relevant personnel to develop the offender's case plan. The JPO reviews the case plan monthly with the Chief JPO. Additional duties include maintaining offender records, developing relationships in the community, working with juveniles and educating the community.
According to Pennsylvania legislation, intensive probation JPOs supervise a maximum of 15 offenders for six to twelve months and meet with them a minimum of three times per week. After six weeks, contact may be reduced to twice a week, and after twelve weeks, reduced to once a week, if the juvenile's performance warrants said reductions. The JPO must contact the juvenile's parents and school once every one to two weeks. - Most counties in Pennsylvania offer diversion programs for less serious infractions, which a JPO may supervise. However, each county monitors these programs somewhat differently. A JPO conducts intakes on youthful offenders to determine placement. Juveniles are required to address victim concerns and perform community service. The JPO may teach the diversion program with police and prosecutor involvement. Additional diversion strategies include victim impact panels, mediation, resolution, mentoring and tutoring. While volunteers interact with the juveniles, JPOs offer technical assistance and recognize volunteers at a yearly awards banquet. JPOs retain training and supervisory responsibility of the diversion program.
