Virginia Administrative Code
Title 6 - CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND CORRECTIONS
Agency 35 - DEPARTMENT (BOARD) OF JUVENILE JUSTICE


Current through Register Vol. 41, No. 3, September 23, 2024

AGENCY SUMMARY

The Department of Juvenile Justice (department) operates thirty-two Court Service Units while providing oversight for three locally operated Court Service Units. The department operates two halfway houses, five juvenile correctional facilities and the Reception and Diagnostic Center, which serves a central location to evaluate and classify juveniles. Additionally, the department serves as a certifying agency for the twenty-four locally operated secure detention facilities.

The Institutional Programs section of the department is responsible for juvenile offenders who have been committed to the state. Each juvenile correctional facility provides the youth in its care medical, behavioral health, school and other educational and vocational services. The department operates the halfway houses to address transitional needs of juveniles who will be completing their court ordered commitment. The Community Programs section of the department is responsible for providing a continuum of community-based services to juvenile offenders. These services include juvenile intake which involves the receipt, review, and processing of complaints for delinquency cases and status offenses; investigations and reports; domestic relations intake to file complaints for support, family abuse, custody, visitation, abuse and neglect, termination of parental rights paternity, and emancipation; and probation and parole supervision. Code of Virginia, Title 66, Chapter 2; Title 16.1, Chapter 11.

Section 66-10 of the Code of Virginia gives the State Board the following general powers and duties:

1. To develop and establish programmatic and fiscal policies governing the operation of programs and facilities for which the department is responsible by law;

2. To ensure the development of a long-range youth services policy;

3. To monitor the activities of the department and its effectiveness in implementing the policies of the board;

4. To advise the Governor, Secretary of Public Safety, and the Director on matters relating to youth services;

5. To promulgate such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of Title 66 of the Code of Virginia and other laws of the Commonwealth administered by the Director or the department;

6. To ensure the development of programs to educate citizens and elicit public support for the activities of the department; and

7. To establish length-of-stay guidelines for juveniles indeterminately committed to the department and to make such guidelines available for public comment.

Various sections of the Code of Virginia give the board additional specific powers and duties, both mandatory and discretionary. Such sections of the Code of Virginia include, but are not limited to, the following:

a. Section 2.2-4007.02 of the Code of Virginia requires the board to promulgate regulations for public participation in the formation and development of regulations.

b. Section 16.1-223 of the Code of Virginia requires the board to promulgate regulations governing the security and confidentiality of data in the Virginia Juvenile Justice Information System.

c. Section 16.1-233 of the Code of Virginia requires the board to establish minimum standards for court service unit staff and related supportive personnel and to promulgate regulations pertaining to their appointment and functions to the end that uniform services, insofar as is practical, will be available to juvenile and domestic relations district courts throughout the Commonwealth.

d. Section 16.1-249 of the Code of Virginia authorizes and directs the board to prescribe minimum standards for temporary lock-up rooms and wards for juveniles 14 years of age or older who are charged with an offense which, if committed by an adult, would be a felony or a class one misdemeanor and a judge or intake officer determines that secure detention is needed for the safety of the juvenile or the community.

e. Section 16.1-284.1 of the Code of Virginia requires the standards established by the board for secure juvenile detention centers to require separate services for the rehabilitation of juveniles placed in post-dispositional detention programs for greater than 30 calendar days.

f. Section 16.1-293.1 of the Code of Virginia requires the board to promulgate regulations for the planning and provision of mental health, substance abuse, or other therapeutic treatment services for persons returning to the community following commitment to a juvenile correctional center or post-dispositional detention program.

g. Section 16.1-309.3 of the Code of Virginia authorizes the board to approve local plans for the development, implementation, and operation of a community-based system of services under the Virginia Juvenile Community Crime Control Act (Article 12.1 of Title 16.1 of the Code of Virginia). This section also requires the board to solicit written comments on the plan from the judge or judges of the juvenile and domestic relations court, the director of the court service unit, and if applicable, the director of programs established under the Delinquency Prevention and Youth Development Act (Chapter 3 of Title 66 of the Code of Virginia).

h. Section 16.1-309.5 of the Code of Virginia requires the board to promulgate regulations to serve as guidelines in evaluating requests for reimbursement of one-half the cost of construction, enlargement, renovation, purchase, or rental of a secure juvenile detention center or other home and to ensure the geographically equitable distribution of state funds provided for such purpose.

i. Section 16.1-309.9 of the Code of Virginia requires the following:
(1) The board to develop, promulgate, and approve standards for the development, implementation, operation, and evaluation of a range of community-based programs, services, and facilities authorized by the Virginia Juvenile Community Crime Control Act (Article 12.1 of Title 16.1 of the Code of Virginia).

(2) The board to approve minimum standards for the construction and equipment of secure juvenile detention centers or other facilities and for the provision of food, clothing, medical attention, and supervision of juveniles to be housed in these facilities and programs.

j. Section 16.1-309.10 of the Code of Virginia authorizes the board to visit, inspect, and regulate any secure juvenile detention center, group home, other residential care facility for children in need of services, delinquent, or alleged delinquent that is established by a city, county, or any combination thereof.

k. Section 16.1-322.5 of the Code of Virginia requires the board to approve those localities creating a commission for the purpose of financing and constructing a regional detention or group home. This section also requires the board to approve contracts for construction of such facilities.

l. Section 16.1-322.7 of the Code of Virginia requires the board to make, adopt, and promulgate regulations governing eight specific aspects of the private management and operation of local or regional secure juvenile detention centers or other secure facilities.

m. Section 66-10.1 of the Code of Virginia requires the board to promulgate regulations to effectuate the purposes of Chapter 5.1 (§ 32.1-162.16 et seq.) of Title 32.1 of the Code of Virginia governing any human research conducted or authorized by the department.

n. Section 66-13 of the Code of Virginia requires the board to prescribe standards for the development, implementation, and operation of juvenile boot camps.

o. Section 66-23 authorizes the board to promulgate regulations to govern the process by which superintendents of juvenile correctional centers consent to residents applying for drivers licenses and issue employment certificates.

p. Section 66-24 of the Code of Virginia requires the board to promulgate regulations for the certification of community group homes or other residential care facilities that contract with or are rented for the care of juveniles in direct state care.

q. Section 66-25.1 of the Code of Virginia requires the board to promulgate regulations governing the form and review process for any agreement with a public or private entity for the operation of a work program for juveniles committed to the department.

r. Section 66-25.6 of the Code of Virginia requires the board to promulgate regulations governing the private management and operation of juvenile correctional facilities.

s. Section 66-28 of the Code of Virginia requires the board to prescribe policies governing applications for grants pursuant to the Delinquency Prevention and Youth Development Act (Chapter 3 of Title 66 of the Code of Virginia) and standards for the operation of programs developed and implemented under the grants.

The department operates under the supervision of the Secretary of Public Safety. Regulations are available at the department's principal office at the 600 E. Main Street, 20TH FL. (mailing address: P.O. Box 1110, Richmond, VA 23218-1110). Internet address: http://www.djj.virginia.gov.

Regulations governing the conduct of state institutions operated by the department are available at the office of the facility director of each institution, and memoranda interpreting the regulations are available for inspection at the principal office of the department.

Rev. 8/2012

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