Virginia Code 16.1-309.3: Establishment of a community-based system of services; biennial local plan; quarterly report
A. Any county, city, or combination thereof may establish a community-based system pursuant to this article, which shall provide, or arrange to have accessible, a variety of predispositional and postdispositional services. These services may include, but are not limited to, diversion, community service, restitution, house arrest, intensive juvenile supervision, substance abuse assessment and testing, first-time offender programs, intensive individual and family treatment, structured day treatment and structured residential programs, aftercare/parole community supervision, and residential and nonresidential services for juveniles who have been screened for needing community diversion or community-based services using an evidence-based assessment protocol or juvenile offenders who are before intake on complaints or the court on petitions alleging that the juvenile is delinquent, in need of services, or in need of supervision but shall not include secure detention for the purposes of this article. Such community-based systems shall be based on an annual review of court-related data and an objective assessment of the need for services and programs for juveniles who have been screened for needing community diversion or community-based services using an evidence-based assessment protocol or juvenile offenders who are before intake on complaints or the court on petitions alleging that the juvenile is a child in need of services, in need of supervision, or delinquent. The community-based system shall be developed after consultation with the judge or judges of the juvenile and domestic relations district court, the director of the court services unit, the community policy and management team established under § 2.2-5205, and, if applicable, the director of any program established pursuant to § 66-26.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 16.1-309.3
- Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
- Child in need of services: means (i) a child whose behavior, conduct or condition presents or results in a serious threat to the well-being and physical safety of the child or (ii) a child under the age of 14 whose behavior, conduct or condition presents or results in a serious threat to the well-being and physical safety of another person; however, no child who in good faith is under treatment solely by spiritual means through prayer in accordance with the tenets and practices of a recognized church or religious denomination shall for that reason alone be considered to be a child in need of services, nor shall any child who habitually remains away from or habitually deserts or abandons his family as a result of what the court or the local child protective services unit determines to be incidents of physical, emotional or sexual abuse in the home be considered a child in need of services for that reason alone. See Virginia Code 16.1-228
- City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
- Department: means the Department of Juvenile Justice and "Director" means the administrative head in charge thereof or such of his assistants and subordinates as are designated by him to discharge the duties imposed upon him under this law. See Virginia Code 16.1-228
- judge: means the judge or the substitute judge of the juvenile and domestic relations district court of each county or city. See Virginia Code 16.1-228
- juvenile and domestic relations court: means the juvenile and domestic relations district court of each county or city. See Virginia Code 16.1-228
- Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
- Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
- State Board: means the State Board of Juvenile Justice. See Virginia Code 16.1-228
B. Community-based services instituted pursuant to this article shall be administered by a county, city, or combination thereof and may be administered through a community policy and management team established under § 2.2-5204 or a commission established under § 16.1-315. Such programs and services may be provided by qualified public or private agencies, pursuant to appropriate contracts. Any commission established under § 16.1-315 providing predispositional and postdispositional services prior to the enactment of this article which serves the City of Chesapeake or the City of Hampton shall directly receive the proportion of funds calculated under § 16.1-309.7 on behalf of the owner localities. The funds received shall be allocated directly to the member localities. Any member locality which elects to withdraw from the commission shall be entitled to its full allocation as provided in §§ 16.1-309.6 and 16.1-309.7. The Department of Juvenile Justice shall provide technical assistance to localities, upon request, for establishing or expanding programs or services pursuant to this article.
C. Funds provided to implement the provisions of this article shall not be used to supplant funds established as the state pool of funds under § 2.2-5211.
D. Any county, city, or combination thereof which establishes a community-based system pursuant to this article shall biennially submit to the State Board for approval a local plan for the development, implementation, and operation of such services, programs, and facilities pursuant to this article. The plan shall provide (i) the projected number of juveniles served by alternatives to secure detention and (ii) any reduction in secure detention rates and commitments to state care as a result of programs funded pursuant to this article. The State Board shall solicit written comments on the plan from the judge or judges of the juvenile and domestic relations court, the director of the court services unit, and, if applicable, the director of programs established pursuant to § 66-26. Prior to the initiation of any new services, the plan shall also include a cost comparison for the private operation of such services.
E. Each locality shall report quarterly to the Director the data required by the Department to measure progress on stated objectives and to evaluate programs and services within such locality’s plan.
1995, cc. 698, 840; 1996, cc. 671, 682; 1997, c. 347; 2000, cc. 195, 806; 2007, c. 813; 2019, c. 105.