Delinquency Services Summary
Combination State: The state operates most delinquency services for youth in West Virginia; however, the state judicial and executive branches divide responsibility. The Supreme Court of Appeals administers predisposition investigations, probation supervision, and some aftercare services through offices in the state's 31 judicial circuits. The Division of Juvenile Services, within the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, administers pre-adjudication/pre-dispositional shelters and secure detention, commitment, and some aftercare services.

Court(s) with Delinquency Jurisdiction
Circuit Courts exercise jurisdiction over delinquency proceedings. Circuit Courts are general jurisdiction trial courts. There are 31 judicial circuits in the state. For more information, visit the West Virginia Judicial System web site.

Highlights

Alternatives to Secure Detention
West Virginia determined that it was holding many juveniles in emergency shelters that also house neglected, dependent, or abused youth, creating a variety of problems for the shelters. To address this problem, the Division of Juvenile Services (DJS) constructed three new staff-secure facilities through the Regional Jail Authority. The staff-secure facilities hold youth who have been charged with delinquency and meet the criteria for detention in a maximum secure detention facility, but do not pose a significant risk to themselves or their communities. The staff-secure facilities also allow the juvenile justice system and the courts to receive more complete needs assessments of juveniles.

Re-entry Court
In 2000, the Division of Juvenile Services began piloting a juvenile re-entry court program (RCP) modeled after the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's Intensive Community-Based Aftercare Program. The program targets adjudicated youth committed to the Industrial Home for Youth and Davis Center who are returning to 10 counties. In addition, community-based treatment teams provide reentry court services to adjudicated youth released from Department of Health and Human Resources residential treatment programs who have returned home but were not in Division of Juvenile Services’ custody. Youth in the juvenile re-entry court receive intensive case management while in confinement. The re-entry staff person, called the Community Resource Coordinator (CRC), meets the youth while in the institution at least monthly, developing aftercare goals and objectives, monitoring progress, and establishing a good relationship with the youth and his or her family. The CRC also meets with the youth’s family at their home several times prior to the youth’s release. Upon release, all RCP participants are court-ordered into probation and RCP. The Juvenile Probation Officer provides supervision and surveillance services. The CRC provides intensive case management with frequent contacts at school, home, and work for an indeterminate period of time. RCP youth attend monthly court hearings before the Juvenile Court Judge for a review of their progress toward their re-entry goals. A graduated system of rewards/incentives and sanctions are used in RCP to hold youth accountable for their behavior, keep them on track toward their goals, and enhance public safety. Based on the youth’s behavior over the past month, the CRC recommends a reward/incentive or sanction at the hearing, which is often then court-ordered into action by the Juvenile Judge. The judge makes the discharge decision based upon the youth’s length of disposition and recommendations from probation and the youth’s CRC.

Teen Courts
The Ninth Circuit (Mercer County), Sixteenth Circuit (Marion County), and Seventeenth Circuit (Monongalia County) offer teen court programs. Acting or retired circuit court judges or active West Virginia state bar members serve as judges. Dispositions include community service and serving as a teen court juror. The Sixth Circuit operates the Cabell County juvenile drug court diversion program. The program diverts non-violent juvenile offenders with alcohol or substance abuse problems to intensive supervision and treatment.

Detention
The Division of Juvenile Services (DJS), within the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, administers detention services. Out of the ten juvenile detention centers (three staff-secure facilities and seven hardware secure facilities in West Virginia), DJS operates nine of them and contracts with a private not-for-profit agency to operate the remaining facility. Please see the highlight for more information about the staff-secure detention faculties.

Depending upon the practice of local judicial circuits and availability of detention alternatives, home confinement, electronic monitoring, and shelter care may be used as options to secure detention pending disposition or placement.

West Virginia's statewide detention standards are available online. The judicial/probation system does not use a standardized screening process other than the standards stated in Facilities Review Panel v. Coe (420 S.E. 2d 532, 187 W.Va. 541), which has been modified over the years by further West Virginia Supreme Court decisions, and West Virginia Code Chapter 49 Article 5. Juveniles may be held in detention to protect the juvenile, if the juvenile is a fugitive, or to ensure the juvenile’s presence at court. The centers house juveniles awaiting adjudication, disposition, and placement. Detention is not used as a disposition; however, it can be used as a sanction for probation violations.

Following the detainment of a youth in a juvenile detention center, a detention hearing must be held by the next day. Preliminary hearings must be held within 10 days, and adjudicatory hearings must be held within 30 days unless good cause is shown.

Delinquency Intake Screening
Anyone with knowledge of the alleged facts may file delinquency complaints. The process for delinquency intake varies between judicial circuits. In some circuits, juvenile probation receives referrals, screens them, and decides whether to handle the case formally or informally. In others, the prosecuting attorney's office has these responsibilities. In three judicial circuits (6th, 13th, and the 24th), a juvenile referee performs this function.

Diversion
Depending on the judicial circuit, juvenile probation or the prosecuting attorney's office may decide to take informal action on the case. Informal dispositions include informal adjustment counseling, referral to counseling, and teen court programs.

The court or juvenile probation may informally adjust cases if it is in the best interest of the public and the juvenile and with the consent of the juvenile and his or her parents. Informal adjustment usually lasts for six months, but it may be extended for another six months. The court or juvenile probation may also refer a juvenile to a counselor at the Department of Health and Human Resources or a community mental health center, or other professional counselor in the community for no more than six months.

The Fourth Circuit (Wood and Wirt counties) offers several diversion programs, including the "Peace Program" with emphasis on anger control and empathy and the "S.O.B.E.R. Program" to combat underage drinking. Other Circuits offer mentoring, restitution, community service, and anti-shoplifting programs. For more information about teen court programs in West Virginia, please see the Highlight on this topic.

Predisposition Investigation
Juvenile probation officers, working for the Supreme Court of Appeals through 31 judicial circuit offices, develop cases for disposition. There is no standard protocol used to conduct predisposition investigations, although a basic format is followed to develop the Predisposition Investigation Report, which is the end product of the investigation. State law requires the juvenile's attorney to make placement recommendations, if applicable. Statute 49-5D-3 mandates that multidisciplinary treatment teams (MDT) develop plans prior to disposition for youth who are victims of abuse or neglect involved in delinquency proceedings that may result in commitment to a state delinquency institution or when, in a status offense proceeding, a youth is referred to the Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) for services. In addition, an MDT is mandated when, in a delinquency proceeding, the court is considering placing a youth in the custody of, or out of home, at DHHR’s expense.

Victim Rights and Services
The statutory rights of victims in West Virginia reside in statute 61-11A. The "Victims Protection Act of 1984" applies to victims of juvenile as well as adult offenders. Victims' rights include the right to:

• submit victim impact statements to be included in predisposition reports

• be notified of the offender's release if the offender commits certain serious crimes

• receive restitution unless the court finds ordering it impractical.

The Juvenile Code, under statute 49-5-2(i), allows victims of juvenile offenders accused of committing a felony if committed by an adult to attend any related juvenile hearings at the judge’s discretion.

The West Virginia Division of Criminal Justice Services has published the Crime Victim Service Provider Directory: 2003-2004.

The West Virginia Court of Claims administers the state crime victim compensation program.

Probation Supervision
Juvenile probation officers, working for the Supreme Court of Appeals in 31 judicial circuit offices, provide probation supervision. In single county judicial circuits, most probation officers work in one centralized office. Multi-county circuits usually have probation offices in each of the circuit’s counties. Probation officers carry one of three designations based upon the preference of their Circuit Judge: adult officer, juvenile officer, and adult/juvenile officer, which is the largest single category. This dual designation has been a growing trend over the last five to seven years.

The Circuit Court sets the terms, conditions, and length of probation supervision. West Virginia does not have specialized probation programs. No statewide standard sets caseload size, but the average supervision caseload was 84 in 2005.

Juvenile probation currently employs a standardized statewide risk assessment instrument as a component of the Juvenile Justice Database maintained by the Statistical Analysis Center of the Division of Juvenile Services. The assessment is performed on those youth for whom the Court has ordered a written pre-disposition report.

Juvenile Probation Officer Qualifications, Certification, and Training
Probation officers must have bachelor’s degrees in a relevant field of study, such as counseling, corrections, social work, or criminal justice. Although probation officers are not professionally certified, the West Virginia Supreme Court conducts an annual, weeklong, mandated training for them. The Director of Probation Services in the Court's Administrative Office instituted the first annual training program for new probation officers in the fall of 2003. The Administrative Office of the Court regularly provides educational opportunities to probation officers, including paying tuition for college courses that are relevant to probation work.

Juvenile Corrections Continuum
The Division of Juvenile Services, within the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, operates and maintains two secure juvenile correctional centers: the Industrial Home for Youth in Harrison County, the state's most secure facility, and the Davis Center in Tucker County, a medium secure facility.

Commitment to State
The court may commit an adjudicated delinquent to the custody of the director of the Division of Juvenile Services (within the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety) for placement in a secure juvenile correctional facility. Commitments are for an indeterminate length of time, lasting for the duration of the correctional facility's program of rehabilitation or for a period no longer than what an adult could serve for having committed the same offense.

Blended Sentencing
If a juvenile is tried and convicted following transfer to adult jurisdiction, the court may nevertheless impose a juvenile disposition in lieu of sentencing the juvenile as an adult. Even if the juvenile is sentenced as an adult, he or she will remain in a juvenile facility until 18 and can stay (at the judge’s discretion) until age 21. For more information, click here.

Direct Placement
The Circuit Court has the authority to place a delinquent youth in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) for placement in a public/private rehabilitative oriented institution. The youth is, in this instance, supervised by a DHHR social worker and usually, but not necessarily, a probation officer. Statute 49-5D-3 mandates that multidisciplinary teams (MDT) develop plans before disposition for youth involved in status offense and delinquency proceedings that may result in placing the juvenile out-of-home at the expense of DHHR. The committing court makes release decisions, with recommendations from the MDT, which includes a DHHR representative. A DHHR social worker and/or probation officer provide aftercare supervisions for youth who receive aftercare services.

Release
The court makes release decisions based upon recommendations provided by the director of the delinquency institution. The court relies heavily on the Division of Juvenile Services' input.

Aftercare/Re-entry
When a judge orders aftercare upon a youth's release from the Division of Juvenile Services (DJS), a local probation officer usually provides aftercare supervision. However, not all counties administer aftercare in the same way. Some probation officers provide aftercare in conjunction with DJS, and some counties choose to not provide aftercare upon a youth's release from DJS

DJS administers an intensive aftercare services program (modeled after the Intensive After Program by Drs. David Altschuler) for all youth released from the WV Industrial Home for Youth and the Davis Center. These services are provided by three Community Resource Supervisors and 18 Community Resource Coordinators (CRCs). Aftercare services begin at the youth’s arrival at the institutions and continues for one year following release. Prior to release, these services include monthly progress reviews with the youth, quarterly home visits with the youth’s parents/guardians, participation in the youth’s treatment plan and multidisciplinary treatment, and attendance at release hearings. Following release, the CRCs complete several home and school visits per month for at least six months, continuing with follow-up phone calls until one year following release. CRCs know the resources in the areas they are assigned to and link youths to the most appropriate resources needed upon release. CRCs also serve as a resource for Judges, juvenile probation officers, prosecuting attorneys, defense attorneys, key community service providers, schools, and businesses.

In 2000, the Division of Juvenile Services began piloting a juvenile re-entry court, funded through the Office of Justice Program's Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative and modeled after the drug court and Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's Intensive Community-Based Aftercare Program. Please see the Highlight for more information about the juvenile re-entry court.

For information about West Virginia's involvement in the Office of Justice Program's Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative, click here. By visiting the State Activities & Resources page, users can read about how other states are using their grants. Descriptions of programs for juveniles follow the descriptions of programs for adults, where applicable.

State Laws

Legal Resources
West Virginia State Code, Chapter 49 (Child Welfare), Article 5 (Juvenile Proceedings)

Title 101, Legislative Rule, Juvenile Facilities Standards Commission, Series 1, West Virginia Minimum Standards for Structure, Operation, and Maintenance of Juvenile Detention and Correctional Facilities

West Virginia Juvenile Law and Procedure (March 2002 issue of Juvenile Justice Report)

West Virginia State Bar

Purpose Clauses
To read West Virginia's purpose clauses for delinquency proceedings and juvenile corrections, click here.

Delinquency Jurisdiction (as of the end of the 2005 legislative session)
Lower Age: None specified
Upper Age: 17
Extended Age of Delinquency Jurisdiction: 20

Juvenile Transfer Laws
For information on West Virginia's juvenile transfer laws, click here.

Juvenile Justice Leadership

Governor's Committee on Crime Delinquency and Correction
The Division of Criminal Justice Services staffs the Governor's Committee on Crime Delinquency and Correction, which was created by executive order in August of 1968 to develop a comprehensive, statewide planning capacity for the improvement of the criminal justice system in West Virginia.

Juvenile Justice Subcommittee of the Governor's Committee on Crime, Delinquency and Corrections This Subcommittee, as West Virginia's State Advisory Group (SAG), allocates and disburses federal funding and insures compliance with the core requirements of the JJDP Act of 1974.

Resources/Contacts
Governor's Committee on Crime Delinquency and Correction
West Virginia Division of Criminal Justice Services
West Virginia Division of Juvenile Services
West Virginia Judicial System
West Virginia State Bar
West Virginia Association of Probation Officers

Jason Carlson
Senior Programs Specialist
WV Division of Criminal Justice Services
1204 Kanawha Boulevard East
Charleston, WV 25301
jcarlson@wvdcjs.org

Dr. Stephen M. Haas
Director
Criminal Justice Statistical Analysis Center
Division of Criminal Justice Services
1204 Kanawha Boulevard, East
Charleston, West Virginia 25301
Phone: (304) 558-8814 x269
Fax: (304) 558-0391
shaas@wvdcjs.org

Michael B. Lacy
Director
Division of Probation Services
West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals
State Capitol, Room E-100
1900 Kanawha Blvd. E.
Charleston, WV 25305
(304) 558-0145
mikelacy@courtswv.org

The National Center for Juvenile Justice strives to make each State Profile as accurate as possible. Please bring any errors, updates, or additions to the attention of the State Profiles project manager. Persons listed as state contacts are not responsible for information contained in these profiles.

© 2000 (original copyright); © 2006 (most recent copyright) National Center for Juvenile Justice

Citation: National Center for Juvenile Justice. 2006. "West Virginia." State Juvenile Justice Profiles. Pittsburgh, PA: NCJJ. Online. Available: http://www.ncjj.org/stateprofiles/.