NCJ Number
118423
Journal
School Safety Dated: (Winter 1987) Pages: 11-13
Date Published
1987
Length
3 pages
Annotation
The U.S. Department of Justice sponsors the Serious Habitual Offender/Drug Involved Program, and the Jacksonville, Fla., Sheriff's Office was asked to participate in an effort to improve policies for handling habitual juvenile offenders.
Abstract
The Sheriff's Office had to build an information base, analyze it for program direction, and develop policies and procedures for habitual juvenile offender identification and tracking. The single greatest obstacle to program participation was the lack of information sharing and cooperation among Jacksonville agencies serving or dealing with juveniles. Inter-Agency was therefore established to include members from law enforcement, the prosecutor's office, juvenile judge offices, probation and service groups, and the school system. Inter-Agency enables all involved agencies to share offender-oriented rather than incident-oriented information. Information maintained by Inter-Agency on truancy, referral rates for absence, tardiness, behavior problems, student code of conduct violations, and academic history can be useful in developing an intensive supervision and intervention plan for habitual juvenile offenders. Inter-Agency also provides knowledge of how youths network with other students, to their collective detriment and potential criminal conduct. Criteria for identifying juveniles considered to be habitual offenders are discussed, and it is concluded that community officials must look beyond turf issues and recognize the need to share information about serious juvenile offenders.