Probation and parole

It is important for juvenile delinquents to immerse themselves in activities that would help them turn their life around . Luckily , there are many probation programs available for them . Two of the programs included in the long list are the school-based probation program and juvenile drug court program

Jackson County in Illinois has a school-based probation program . Since the probationers are in a school setting , it is easier for the probation officers to supervise them closely (Ashley , 2006 ,

.1 . According to Jessica Ashley (2006 , in the Program Evaluation Summary of the Illinois

br Justice Information Authority , the school-based probation program was created with these objectives in mind : to increase juvenile accountability , to reduce violence in schools , increase success rates with juvenile probationers and to foster better communication between probation departments and schools (p .1 ' These are the considerations in the development of the program

Moreover , the program has a separate list of its initial goals . The first goal is the greater juvenile recognition of probation monitoring (Ashley , 2006 ,

.1 ' Since the program 's setup includes probation officers being in such close proximity with the probationers , the latter will have more awareness of the probation system because they encounter it first hand . The second goal is improved quality of relationships between probation and schools (Ashley , 2006 ,

.1 ' To begin with , a juvenile spends a lot of time in school , and if one is considered a delinquent , he or she will spend time in probation . If before it was two separate cases , now the juvenile can be on probation while being in school . Both the probation officers and teachers can supervise the juveniles closely , and with greater understanding of their individual roles . The third goal is improved relationships between probation officers and parents (Ashley , 2006 ,

.1 ' The parents will gain a clearer perspective of the program since they can see their kids at school . They can also follow their child 's progress by developing a relationship with the probation officer . Goal number four is more immediate attention to potential violations (Ashley , 2006 ,

.1 Since the probation officers are closely monitoring the probationers the former can easily take action in case any problems occur . The fifth goal is also connected to the fourth one : A decrease of 20 percent in juvenile offenses (Ashley , 2006 ,

.1 ' The fact that the juvenile probationers know that they are constantly monitored and that their probation officers are in such a close proximity , they would hesitate to involve themselves in further trouble . This would obviously result in a decrease in future violations . The last goal is improvements in the quality of education (Ashley , 2006 ,

.1 ' Now that the probation officers have access to the school , they could determine if the cases of the juvenile delinquents are in anyway caused by the quality of the education . If a student becomes a juvenile delinquent , and he or she participates in the school-based program , not only will the respective student be monitored , but the school as...