Juvenile Probation in the United States

Source: (2000) White paper prepared for the Probation Services Task Force, California Administrative Office of the Courts. Downloaded 18 May 2004.

While probation practice can vary significantly from state to state and from jurisdiction to jurisdiction within the same state, there are common tenets that underscore promising probation practices that are applicable in any locality, whether in adult or juvenile probation. This paper presents an overview of juvenile probation as it is practiced throughout the United States and highlights promising practices, that is practices that research and experience tell us are most likely to be successful. The paper is organized in three parts with the first section presenting an overview of juvenile probation services across the country. The author has culled numerous resources to compile a thorough statistical analysis, and the information is as reliable as it can be unless new research were conducted for this project. The second section features current thinking about what constitutes promising probation practices. The third section describes promising probation practices and presents examples of agencies around the country that are trying to put these practices in effect. (excerpt)