Purpose and Philosophy 

     The Post-D Program is a long term (up to six months) program designed to allow residents ages 14 - 17 to serve their sentence in the HJDC while receiving local treatment services designed to address their court involvement.  This program of local confinement, treatment services, and release plans will increase the resident’s awareness of the consequences for involvement in criminal activities, balance the community’s needs with the resident’s future involvement with the resident court system, and reduce the current percentage of residents with juvenile court records from entering the adult correctional system.

     The philosophy of the Post-D Program of the HJDC is two fold.  First, it is to provide court services and judges an alternative to state placement for those residents that are deemed appropriate for intervention through a prescriptive and rehabilitative education model in reference to VA Code Section 16.1-284.1.  Secondly, residents will leave the program in a better mental and physical condition than they exhibited upon entering and more able to live appropriately in society.

Treatment Objectives

     Each resident in the Post-D Program will receive anger management, substance abuse education, independent living skills, re-parenting skills, pre-employment and employment education, behavioral and disciplinary reform, academic instruction, as well as individualized services as identified by the service plan.  Good decision making skills and impulse control are also addressed daily.

Criteria for Acceptance

     The criteria to be accepted into the HJDC Post-D Program are as follows:

• The juvenile is 14 to 17 years of age;

• The juvenile has been found delinquent within the last 12 months;

• The juvenile has committed an offense, which if committed by an adult, would be punishable by confinement;

• The juvenile is sentenced for no less than 31 days under the §16.1-284.1 of the Code of Virginia;

• The juvenile has a suspended commitment to the Department of Juvenile Justice;

• The juvenile has not been committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice within the last 18 months;

• The juvenile has never been convicted of a violent felony as defined by Code of Virginia;

• The interests of the juvenile and the community require secure custody in order to receive services;

• The interests of the juvenile and the community require the juvenile be placed under legal restraint or discipline;

• The placement is for the rehabilitation of the resident;

• The resident has documented failure in past treatment programs;

• The juvenile has medical insurance and/or Medicaid. 

• There is a recent social history;

• The juvenile has been assessed by the Post-D Coordinator and determined to be appropriate for the program;

• The juvenile is willing to participate in the program; and

• A Post-D Program bed is available.

Referrals

     In order to place a juvenile in the Post-D program, a referral shall be completed by the referring probation officer along with the child’s most recent social history (completed within the year) prior to the resident being placed in the program.  The referral (available below) can be faxed to the Post-D Coordinator at (276) 466-7820, ATTN: Josh Jones or emailed to jjones@hjdc.org.

Post-D Referral Form

     Upon review of the referral, the Post-D Program Coordinator will complete the Admission Packet that includes the Assessment for Appropriateness.  The Post-D Program Coordinator will notify the referring probation officer of the decision to accept or deny the resident into the program.  The referring probation officer will then give a Post-D Program information packet to each child and parent/legal guardian prior to the child entering the program that briefly explains the program including visitation, medical responsibilities, behavior management, and individual responsibilities.  It is to be made clear that the juvenile will not receive credit for time served and that the suspended commitment will be imposed upon failure in the Post-D Program.

Post-D Information Packet

     Upon acceptance into the the Post-D program, but prior to juvenile's arrival, the following forms must be completed, signed and submitted to the Post-D Coordinator:

Emergency Health Care Permission

Statement of Understanding

     Once the above criteria is met, the child must arrive with the following:

• A court order of the sentence detailing instructions of when the child is to be released, date and time of release, to whom he/she is to be released, as well as a prescription of services and programs the child is to complete and timeframes for their completion;

• any other written information considered by the court during sentencing.

Service Planning

     No later than thirty days after placement, there will be a Service Plan Meeting at the Detention Center with the Post-D Program Coordinator, the child, child’s probation officer, Parent(s)/Legal Guardian(s) (if available), and any other parties participating.  During the Service Plan meeting, the following will be completed, signed, and a copy given where appropriate:

1. Child’s information worksheet

2. Individual Responsibilities

3. Release of Information

4. Service Plan

5. Permission to Participate

6. Also a parent worksheet will be given to the parent/legal guardian to fill in important and up coming information during the Service Plan meeting.

     The Post-D Program  residents’ progress is measured through weekly update reports and 30 day review reports, which include a specific progress report completed by the Post-D Program Coordinator, with information provided by the resident, the resident’s family or legal guardian (if appropriate), the resident’s probation officer, the Principal (educational), the Mental Health Therapist (psychological/behavioral), and the Administrative Supervisor (disciplinary), as well as any other Staff responsible for daily implementation of the resident's individualized service plan.  Each progress report will review the: 

1. Resident's progress toward meeting the plan's objectives;

2. Family's involvement;

3. Continuing needs of the resident;

4. Resident's progress towards discharge; and

5. Status of discharge planning.

     At a minimum, service plan and progress reviews for each post-dispositional resident will take place on the following schedule. 

• Prior to the resident’s 30 day court review, a progress report will be completed by the Post-D Program Coordinator or designee.

• 60 days after the initial service plan a service plan update will be completed (or more often if necessary).

• 90 days after the initial service plan a service plan update will be completed (or more often if necessary).

     Each plan and quarterly progress report shall include the date it was developed and the signature of the person who developed it.  The Post-D Coordinator will be responsible for distributing a copy of the initial individualized service plan, each update, and all quarterly progress reports to the resident; the resident's family, legal guardian, or legally authorized representative; the placing agency; and appropriate facility staff.

     When the Post-D Program Coordinator distributes the initial individualized service plan, each update, and all quarterly reports the date, time, what was distributed, and to whom it was distributed will be logged on the Inventory of Post-Dispositional Contacts located in the Post-D resident’s file. 

Termination

     The criteria and procedures for terminating services prior to the resident’s successful completion of the Post-D program are as follows:

• The resident receives a new charge while in the program;

• The weekly update and/or 30 day review shows that the resident is not putting forth effort towards outlined objectives.  (Before each weekly update, court review or service plan update meeting the Post-D Program Coordinator will receive information from the Principal, Mental Health Therapist, and the Administrative Supervisor).

• The HJDC Director may have the resident removed from the Post-D program pending a court hearing requesting program removal if the resident’s behavior is violent, the resident is a safety and security risk and/or the resident's behavior is such that it affects the rest of the program.  Otherwise, the resident will remain in the program until the presiding judge or a designee officially removes the resident from the program. 

     Negative behavior, rule violations, and non-compliance with service plan goals will be handled on an individual basis. 

     To be removed from the Post-D Program, a mandatory meeting will be held with the resident, probation officer, and Parent(s)/Legal Guardian(s) (if available) to determine court recommendations.  From this meeting a joint contract will be signed showing that all parties involved understand this is the last step in the termination process.  If a juvenile’s behavior leads to a recommendation for program removal, the Post-D Program Coordinator may either make that recommendation at the next review hearing or request that the Probation Officer file a motion requesting program removal.  The Judge will make the final decision for program removal.