Riverside County Probation earns certification in juvenile justice reform

After a national competition involving several dozen agencies, the Riverside County Probation Department was selected to participate in a four-day certification program at Georgetown University in the nation’s capital that took place earlier this month.

The goal of the Transforming Juvenile Probation Program is to instruct teams from state and local jurisdictions on how to fundamentally reshape their systemwide approach to probation.

Riverside County Probation Chief Christopher Wright said he was energized by the department’s selection and excited to meet with the team when they returned from the training that took place the week of June 10-14. Program attendees received instruction from and participated in discussions with researchers, policymakers and probation practitioners.

“This is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity and it is so great to see our county agencies collaborate to improve systems for our youth,” Wright said in a statement. “We look forward to the recommendations and lives that will be changed from this opportunity.”

Riverside County Probation earned the opportunity to participate by demonstrating “a history of successful cross-agency collaboration, stable organizational structure and leadership, along with a commitment to ongoing data collection with a goal of measuring and sustaining future improvements,” according to a county press release.

The department was one of five agencies selected to participate from across the country out of more than 60 applicants, according to Riverside County. Selected applicants were required to choose a team of individuals to attend the training who hold authority within their agency, as well as a youth who has personal experience with the juvenile justice system.

County probation officers were joined by staff members from the Riverside Juvenile Court, Public Defender’s Office, District Attorney’s Office and a community-based organization leader. Also joining the Riverside County Probation team was one of the original youths who participated in the Pathways to Success Program.

“Riverside County Probation plans to use the training received and the continued technical assistance from the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform of Georgetown University to enhance our integrated services delivery, with the goal of shortening the length of juvenile justice system involvement,” the press release continued.

The department also seeks to substantially decrease the amount of time it takes to link youth and their families to community-based support and services.