Thirteenth District Court Service Unit
Richmond CSU

The 13th District Court Service Unit is dedicated to system improvement that will contribute to significant reductions in youthful offender recidivism. The CSU and other key treatment providers have made system-wide changes to include evidence based practices and programs. Probation Officers facilitate Aggression Replacement Therapy and Thinking for a Change groups. Probation and parole supervision is guided by Effective Practices in Community Supervision. Probation Officers perform cognitive behavioral interventions with juvenile offenders. Treatment providers are required to offer cognitive behavior treatment. Our Court Service Unit strives to reduce offender recidivism through evidence based practices, system collaboration, objective assessment of offenders, CBT programming, and enhanced quality assurance.

Staffing

• Director: 1
• Deputy Director: 1
• Senior Administrative Support Staff: 2
• Office Service Assistants: 6
• Probation Supervisors: 6
• Probation Officers (Intake, Investigative, Probation, Parole): 25
• FAPT Consultant (Local funding): 2
• Level II Case Managers (Local funding): 1

Operations/Services

• Diversion Services: The CSU diverts criminal offenses that meet the Code requirement in Child in Need of Services and Child in Need of Supervision complaints. Juveniles are diverted to programs and services and monitored for compliance with services for 90-day period. Delinquency prevention programs are provided by the Richmond Department of Justice Services, public human service agencies and private providers. Diversion Officers monitor diversion plan compliance only.
• Intake Services (Mandated): Intake services are provided 24 hours a day. Intake Officers process all juvenile delinquency complaints and domestic relations civil complaints for the City of Richmond. Civil complaints are processed on a walk-in basis during normal operating hours- non-support, family abuse, custody (permanent and temporary), abuse and neglect, termination of parental rights, visitation rights, paternity, and emancipation. All Probation Officers are assigned to respond to juvenile arrests after hours.
• Court Reports: The Court Service Unit conduct pre-dispositional investigations and social history reports, transfer reports, addendums and needs/risk assessments. Custody Investigations are completed by Richmond Department of Social Services.
• Probation (Mandated): Juveniles adjudicated guilty of charges that have assessed the need for community supervision and case management are placed on “supervision probation”, per the Juvenile Code of Virginia, 16.1-278.8 (B). Community Supervision strives to achieve a "balanced approach." This approach focuses on the principles of community protection (public safety), accountability, and competency development. Probation Officers perform ongoing assessments, service planning, service identification and referrals to services/programs; case management and compliance monitoring Juveniles are supervised according to risk levels of low, medium and high.
• Reentry Services (Mandated): The CSU provides supervision for juveniles who are committed placed in Juvenile Correctional Centers. Parole Officers assist juveniles in the transition back to the community. Parole provides overarching case management, coordinated handling of the juvenile’s case from the time of commitment, through the period of incarceration and the juvenile’s reentry to the community under parole supervision. Parole Officer provides continuous contact and collaboration with the staff at the juvenile correctional center, the juvenile and his or her family.
• Level II Case Management: Court Service Unit has one locally funded post-dispositional Case Manager who provides service linkage at Intake. The Case Manager is office-based and responsible for monitoring compliance, court appearances, documentation and follow-up.
• Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) Sustained Practices: The purpose of JDAI is to safely limit the use of secure detention by identifying and developing appropriate graduated, non-secure alternatives and promoting their consistent, fair use and by eliminating any unnecessary delay in processing delinquency cases from the time of initial contact with the youth to final resolution of the case. We have reduced admissions to detention, reduce average daily population in detention, and reduce case processing time, increased reliance on community-based detention alternative programs
• Youth Assessment Screening Instrument (YASI) and Standardized Dispositional Matrix (SDM) : The Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice has adopted the YASI as its official risk assessment tool. The YASI assesses risk, needs, and protective factors. The CSU conducts a pre-screen YASI report and the standardized dispositional matrix for each charge as identified by policy.
• Juvenile Justice Collaborative: The Court Service Unit Director convenes and co-facilitates a Juvenile Justice Collaborative (JJC) meeting bi-monthly. The purpose of meetings is to facilitate juvenile justice process and systems improvements among stakeholder agencies in the City of Richmond.
• Court Service Unit Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT): The Court Service Unit convenes MDT meetings to staff cases that have exhausted community-based services that may need Comprehensive Services Act funding. The team is comprised of professional from various human services areas of expertise who gather with youth and their family in an effort to explore local community resources in order to prevent foster care or additional delinquent acts. The team was formed in response to a local Community Policy Management Team (CPMT) policy.
• DMC site: The Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services selected our Court Service Unit to participate in a DMC evaluation/strategic planning process. DMC researchers completed stakeholder interviews and data analysis, a draft report received May 2012 and a final report and published it in December 2012.
• Primary Community Partner Agencies:
  • Richmond Justice Services - Surveillance services, community service work, and truancy officers
  • Virginia Health Center - Substance abuse screening and out-patient counseling groups
  • Family Focus - Sex offender out-patient services
  • Family Preservation - Pre-trial out of jurisdiction GPS
  • Richmond Behavioral Health Authority - Mental health and mental disability services, psychological evaluations, psychological and Multi-Systemic Therapy
  • Private In-Home Counseling Programs - Various agencies
  • Michele K. Nelson, Ph.D., Forensic Psychologist - Psychological and Psycho-sexual evaluations