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| Office
of Juvenile Parole & Transitional Services |
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| The
Office of Juvenile Parole and Transitional Services,
(JP&TS) is a community-oriented service
agency. We are dedicated to sharing responsibilities
with our partners in the community to effect
successful re-entry of adjudicated youth returning
home by providing a balanced approach utilizing
care, treatment, accountability, protection
and enforcement. |
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| It
is estimated that over the next five years,
thousands of youths will be released from the
Juvenile Justice Commission’s custody
to communities throughout New Jersey. JP&TS
provides parole supervision to these juvenile
offenders and assists them as they transition
to home, their neighborhoods and schools through
a gradual, planned and purposeful “step-down”
parole process. This process seeks to hold parolees
accountable for their behavior while simultaneously
maximizing opportunities to engage each parolee
in a re-entry process that facilitates: family
reunification; furthers the parolee’s
education; leads to the development of marketable
skills; and the development of those normative
skills, such as self-disciplined positive goal
directed behavior, and moral values that will
enable him or her to become a productive, contributing
member of the community. |
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| These
goals are achieved through collaboration with
other JJC organizational units, including the
JJC’s Offices of Education, Secure Care,
and Community Programs and partnering with community-based
service providers. Through these partnerships
and collaborations, opportunities for successful
re-entry are provided through the following. |
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“Inside
– Outside” Programs and Services
Helping a juvenile prepare for re-entry and
community parole supervision begins pre-release
and involves a multi-system effort to ensure
the individualized re-entry plan considers the
risks to public safety and needs of the parolee
to succeed on parole. When possible, juveniles
are involved pre-release in vocational and employment
training opportunities that will transfer outside
of the JJC facility. The juvenile and his or
her family are encouraged to participate in
the re-entry planning process either in person
or through the use of video-teleconferencing. |
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| Transitional
Services
are provided to parolees with the goal
of helping each parolee gradually transition
home through a series of “step-down”
supervised activities. These activities allow
the parolee to practice the pro-social skills
needed to successfully return to the neighborhood,
home and school while under supervision in a
variety of environments. Located throughout
New Jersey, community-based transitional services
include short-term transitional living facilities,
day reporting centers, transitional schools,
supportive employment opportunities, mentoring
and interventions designed to address: gang
reduction; family reunification; supporting
substance abuse recovery and improving mental
and emotional disorders. |
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