About Juvenile & Family Services

Mission: Clallam County Juvenile and Family Services will do whatever it takes to provide prevention, treatment and accountability services for youth and their families. Services provided include Community Supervision, Court Services, At-Risk Youth Supervision, Diversion, Detention, CASA and Truancy assistance.

See a complete copy of our Program Description (PDF). Programs and Services offered through Juvenile Services include:

• At Risk Youth:
  A legislated program designed to assist and enable parents to gain control of their children through court intervention.
• CASA:
  Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), appointed to protect the best interest of a child or children involved in a Dependency Court proceeding.
• CHINS:
  The acronym for Child In Need of Services (CHINS) is similar to the At-Risk Program except that when a CHINS is filed for a child there is a need to remove the child from the home while the court intervention and family assistance takes place.
• Court Services:
  All juvenile cases filed by the Prosecutor's office are processed at Juvenile Services and cases are heard in the courtroom located at the facility. See also Family Court, Juvenile Court, and Youth Court.
• Dependency:
  Dependency court proceedings address the needs of children regarding abuse and/or neglect, abandonment, no parent/guardian or that are developmentally disabled. Juvenile Services court clerk processes submitted petitions regarding these allegations.
• Detention:
  Juveniles are court ordered to our secured detention facility. While in detention they attend school, meet with probation counselors and may attend drug/alcohol information classes.
• Diversion:
  Diversion is a legal process whereby first time offenders alleged to have committed certain misdemeanors are offered an alternative to the formal court process.
• Drug Court:
  Drug Courts are revolutionizing the criminal justice system. The strategy departs from traditional criminal practice by placing nonviolent drug abusing offenders into intensive court-supervised drug treatment instead of incarceration without identifying and addressing the underlying issues.
• Probation:
  Supervision of juvenile offenders ordered by the court.
• Prevention:
  Many youth and/or their parents refer themselves to our office for assistance in dealing with difficult situations or relationships. Services for this group of clients is provided partially to avoid an escalation that could lead to later delinquency or family breakdown. See also the Department of Health and Human Services Prevention page.
• Special Offender Supervision:
  The Special Sex Offender Disposition Act (SSODA) and Option B are programs available for special offenders who are evaluated and deemed a low risk to the community and amenable to treatment/counseling.
• Truancy:
  Juveniles who do not attend school are referred to the court for attendance action. Juveniles can appear before a Truancy Board or the court and are ordered to school. If they fail to attend they can be ordered to serve time in detention where they will attend the school program.
• Volunteers:
  Juvenile Services encourages and uses volunteers in many duties. Volunteer hours number in the thousands each year and approximately 100 volunteers actively participate in working with youth.