Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 12, March 20, 2024
(a) As part of diversion services,
probation shall assess for risk and needs and utilize case planning tools and
protocols, as approved by the Division of Criminal Justice Services, to:
(1) identify youth who are at moderate or high
risk for continuing in the behaviors underlying the presenting problem to address
the priority areas for intervention;
(2)
complete a full risk and needs assessment at case opening and case closure for all
medium and high-risk youth to ensure effective case planning and to measure change
in dynamic risk and protective factors;
(3) develop case plans based on assessment results
that focus on the priority areas for intervention to address the presenting
problem;
(4) engage youth by providing
evidence-based services through probation department and/or community-based service
providers; and
(5) advocate for the
youth's timely commencement of services and work closely through on-going
communication with the service providers to monitor a youth's participation and
progress in completing the services that address the needs identified in the case
plan. Document in the case file the youth's and family's progress in the
services.
(b) As part of
assessment, case planning, and reassessment, probation shall use effective client
engagement skills such as motivational interviewing with the youth, and where
practicable, his/her family to:
(1) develop a case
plan within 30 calendar days of the initial conference with the youth and parent(s)
or other persons legally responsible for his/her care that addresses:
(i) priority dynamic risk and need areas for
intervention;
(ii) objectives that build
on existing protective factors;
(iii)
roles and responsibilities of the youth, parent(s) or other persons legally
responsible for his/her care, probation officer, and other service
providers;
(iv) intended outcomes for
successful case closure;
(v) input from
parent(s) or other person(s) legally responsible for his/her care and youth to
identify any barriers to meeting case plan goals;
(vi) engaging medium and higher risk youth in
cognitive-behavioral programming, where appropriate, and available, with services
provided either through the probation department or a community-based
agency;
(vii) where available, referring
youth to effective, community-based services to address the underlying issues
resulting in the presenting problem;
(viii) referring to family-focused services, where
appropriate, and available;
(ix) the
appropriate level of intervention and contact based upon the youth's risk, needs and
protective factors; and
(x) responsivity
considerations;
(2) utilize
the participation and/or services of community-based providers as appropriate;
(i) the assessment and approved case plan may be
shared and reviewed with active service providers;
(3) include the youth, and the family, where
practicable, in review of the assessment results and all case plans;
(4) Review and update the case plan on an ongoing
basis to document any changes in priority areas, goals, action steps, roles and
responsibilities, and progress; case notes should reflect progress in meeting the
goals included in the caseplan.
(5)
reassess all youth with open diversion cases within 60 calendar days of the initial
case plan, and every 90 calendar days thereafter, to measure progress toward
intended outcomes; and update the case plan in accordance with the results of
reassessment; and
(6) reassess at case
closing.
(c) Probation will
work to address the needs identified in the assessment and case plan. The probation
officer shall use effective client engagement skills such as motivational
interviewing and other engagement tools to assist the youth in identifying the
behavioral risks and understand how thinking/attitudes, associates and peers,
chemical dependency, and other factors influence behavior.
(d) Probation will work to effectively engage
youth to ensure that higher risk youth receive more intervention, contact, and
evidence-based services. Front-loading probation and community service interventions
is essential to achieving positive outcomes for youth. The probation officer shall
use graduated responses to encourage and/or support pro-social behavior.
