Juvenile Justice

Probation Services

 

Probation services are directed through three separate regions that differ widely in demographic and geographic makeup.

Probation offices in rural Alaska have often taken the lead in partnering with Alaska’s substantial Alaska Native population in developing community-based solutions like circle sentencing and community courts that seek to serve kids in their own communities. Urban probation officers are working to establish school and community-based probation, truancy, and community partnerships to address delinquency at all ages and levels. These officers are provided support in their efforts from regional and state offices.

There are probation offices throughout Alaska. Offices are, or will be, located within youth facilities where feasible. In smaller communities, offices may even be shared with other state agencies when available. Rural probation officers provide itinerant services to the vast number of communities off of the road network.

Juvenile Probation field staff are assigned critical public safety responsibilities under Alaska's juvenile justice system. The juvenile probation officer (JPO) is the first point of contact for an offender following an arrest by police. Juvenile probation staff must be available – at least on-call – 24 hours a day, every day of the year, to assist local and state law enforcement agencies with decisions as to which juvenile offenders are detained in our youth facilities in order to protect the public.

Most adjudicated offenders are not in our institutions, but are in the community on conditions of probation. It is essential that probation officers provide sufficient supervision and offender accountability-based services to prevent further delinquency. Probation officers help offenders develop life skills, hold them to task to ensure they make reparation to their victims, and work with the Courts to enforce disposition judgements which benefit the community, victim, juvenile offender and the offender’s family. JPOs also work with youth facility staff and other agencies to provide intensive community supervision and aftercare services to juvenile offenders transitioning back into the community after being discharged from institutional treatment programs. Often called upon to make presentations in the public, the JPO is a community partner in serving Alaska’s youth.