MISSION

When a crime is committed by a juvenile, an obligation is incurred by the offender to make efforts to restore the victim and community to their pre-crime status.

It is the mission of the Mercer County Juvenile Probation Department to ensure that the juvenile offender assumes responsibility for his/her actions and makes amends by attempting to repair the emotional, physical, and material harm caused to the victim and the community while demonstrating an increase in personal competencies resultant from evidence-based programs and services provided through the juvenile justice system. Further, it is paramount that society’s basic right to a safe and secure community is preserved and that its’ citizens feel safe from harm.

In order to accomplish this mission, the Mercer County Juvenile Probation Department has incorporated the Balanced and Restorative Justice principles of accountability, competency development, and public safety in conjunction with initiatives of the Juvenile Justice System Enhancement Strategy (JJSES) into our rehabilitation philosophy that utilizes evidence-based practices and services to prevent delinquency, decrease out-of-home placements, and reduce the risk of subsequent re-arrest and recidivism.

Department Description

The Mercer County Juvenile Probation Department is under the direct supervision of the Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division, and is responsible for the investigation and supervision of juvenile offenders who are alleged to have committed, or have committed, misdemeanor and/or felony level offenses prior to their 18th birthday. The department’s jurisdiction expires once a juvenile offender has turned age 21. The mission of the department is driven by the legislatively mandated philosophy of Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ) (Title 42. Pa C.S. Section 6301 et.seq) which emphasizes three equal goals: Community Protection, Offender Accountability (including reparation of harm to the victim), and Offender Competency Development. In 2010, Pennsylvania’s Juvenile Justice Enhancement Strategy (JJSES), fundamentally changed how we achieve BARJ by employing evidence-based practices, data-driven decision making, and professional development as primary goals to ensure that the most effective level of services are provided to the youth and families under the supervision of the Juvenile Court.

To this end, the MCJPD is tasked with providing a continuum of services that address delinquency at every level, from prevention and diversion efforts to ongoing probation supervision in the community, and from monitoring and supervising youth who have been committed to residential treatment facilities or other out-of-home placements to helping them safely reintegrate back into the community.

The Juvenile Probation Department is operationally funded through three separate budgets: the Needs-Based Budget which accesses federal & state level funding; the Juvenile Probation Services Grant which is grant funding awarded to the Courts based on merit from the Juvenile Court Judge’s Commission; and the county budget. The department staff compliment consists of a Chief Juvenile Probation Officer, Deputy Chief, Community Specialist (who oversee the Community Court Diversion Program), Intake Officer, six (6) Line Probation Officers, two (2) School-Based Probation Officers, a Community-Based Officer, a Fiscal Assistant, and two Administrative Assistants.