MISSION STATEMENT

To foster prevention and reduction of juvenile crime; respond to the needs of the victim; promote community safety, restoration and development; empower youth and their families through the interaction of the court.

The Lehigh County Juvenile Probation Department has the responsibility to the community for delivering necessary and appropriate services for juveniles and families that come before the Juvenile Court.

Youth and families referred to the Juvenile Probation Department today are in need of much more time and attention than ever before. Poverty, drug abuse, gang involvement, inadequate parenting, educational deficits contribute heavily to delinquent behavior. In order to be more effective in providing services to our clients, the Juvenile Probation Department has become more of a community-based operation. Probation officers are stationed in schools and strive to be more visible and accessible to the community.

The Juvenile Probation Department continues to solicit communities to be more involved in developing programs to help troubled delinquent youth become productive. At times, however, the seriousness of a crime or the complexity of the youth's problems warrants being placed to a juvenile facility. Institutional programs are expensive, however, the department attempts to control costs by seeking funding to reduce the costs to the Lehigh County taxpayers.

The Juvenile Probation Department partners with Lehigh County Children and Youth and Lehigh County Mental Health / Lehigh County Mental Retardation in cases that have multi-system involvement. A Youth Crime and Violence Task Force chaired by our department consists of representatives from the following agencies: Allentown School District, Juvenile Court Judge, Probation Staff, Social Service staff, Faith Community, victim services, police, counseling agencies, physician, Lehigh County District Attorney and Lehigh County Public Defender as well as other entities that interact with youth on a regular basis. By meeting monthly we continue to plan for the on-going development of these partnerships. We anticipate that these partnerships and specialized programs will aid the department in holding youth accountable in the community, provide for public protection and enable these youth to develop competencies.

The Juvenile Probation Department management and staff have been consistently recognized by the Pennsylvania Juvenile Court Judges Commission for their dedication and commitment to youth. The department is proud of their accomplishments and will continue to provide the best possible services for its clients and the communities we serve.

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