Supervision and Treatment Services for Juveniles Program

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You are on this page: Supervision and Treatment Services for Juveniles Program

Overview

The Supervision and Treatment Services for Juveniles Program (STSJP) plays a key role in transforming New York State's juvenile justice system. Since its inception in 2011, STSJP incentivizes local programs to divert youth from detention to residential care.

The 2017 enactment of the Raise the Age (RTA) legislation (Part WWW Chapter 59 of the Laws of 2017) made substantive changes to the procedures and mechanisms used to process 16- and 17-year-olds in the criminal and juvenile justice systems. Among other things, the RTA legislation modified Executive Law § 529-b to expand the eligible population for STSJP services to include older youth subject to RTA; this expansion went into effect on October 1, 2018.

A municipality that elects to use STSJP funds for programs that prevent the detention and placement of youth must designate a lead agency for the purposes of planning and administering services under STSJP and submit an STSJP Annual Plan for OCFS review and approval, as prescribed in Executive Law § 529-b.

Currently, the STSJP Program Year runs from October 1 through September 30.

Eligible Population

Pursuant to Executive Law § 529-b, STSJP programs can be utilized to meet the needs of youth who are at risk of becoming, alleged to be, or adjudicated as Persons in Need of Supervision (PINS) or Juvenile Delinquents (JDs), or youth alleged to be or convicted as Juvenile Offenders (JOs), Adolescent Offenders (AOs), or adjudicated as Youthful Offenders (YOs). Please see the definitions of each youth type below. For additional information, see the New York Family Court Act.

Persons in Need of Supervision (PINS)

At risk: Youth younger than 18at risk of having a PINS petition filed as demonstrated by factors that may include poor academic attendance, history of abuse or neglect, weak social ties, low parental involvement, previous trauma, increasing behavioral issues and/or behavioral health needs.

Alleged: Denotes that a petition pursuant to Article 7 of the Family Court Act has been filed, alleging that a youth, less than 18, is a PINS, or that a person or entity has sought or attempted to file a petition pursuant to Article 7 of the Family Court Act against the youth, and as a result, diversion services are being arranged or provided for in accordance with Family Court Act § 735.

Adjudicated: A Family Court has heard the case and determined that the youth is a PINS.

Juvenile Delinquent (JD)

At risk: As of December 29, 2022, youth at least 12 years of age and under 18 years of age who have been arrested, warned or otherwise come to the attention of the juvenile justice system, or are at risk of engaging in delinquent behavior as demonstrated by factors that may include but are not limited to: poor academic performance, poor school attendance, history of abuse and neglect, past adjudication as a PINS, weak social ties, antisocial or delinquent peers, low parental involvement, substance abuse, and increased aggression towards self and community.

Alleged: As of December 29, 2022, youth at least 12 years of age and under 18 years of age who have had a petition filed under Article 3 of the Family Court Act alleging that they have committed an act that would be a crime if committed by an adult, or youth between the age of seven and 12 who are alleged to have committed a homicide offense. This include youth who were initially charged as Juvenile Offenders or Adolescent Offenders and whose cases were removed from the Youth Part of Superior Court to Family Court.

Adjudicated: A Family Court has heard the case and determined that the youth is a JD.

Juvenile Offender (JO)

Alleged: Youth was charged with a JO criminal offense as defined in NYS Penal Law § 10.00.

Convicted: Youth was convicted of a JO criminal offense.

Adolescent Offender (AO)

Alleged: Youth charged with a felony committed on or after October 1, 2018 when they were 16 years old or on or after October 1, 2019, when they were 17 years old.

Convicted: Youth was convicted of an AO criminal offense.

Youthful Offender (YO)

Finding: Youth charged with committing a crime between 13-19 years old may be eligible for a YO finding. A YO finding is substituted for the conviction of an eligible youth upon a determination that the interest of justice would be served by relieving the youth of the burden of a criminal record.

Programs and Services

When developing STSJP plans, OCFS encourages municipalities to consider programs that would best meet the needs of the youth locally at risk of entering, or involved in, their juvenile justice system. Programs should be: strengths-based, trauma-responsive, culturally relevant and gender-responsive to the extent feasible. A municipality may use their STSJP allocation to fund programs with services including, but not limited to, those that:

OCFS supports municipalities as they expand their STSJP programs to align with key decision points in the juvenile justice system. Critical outcomes at each decision point inform the five domains under which youth and families can be served. Utilization of these domains will assist in the planning of programs and measurement of their impact. The current STSJP plan application provides municipalities with the ability to designate desired programs within the domains described below.

Prevention (P)

Programs that serve youth with no juvenile justice involvement but who exhibit behaviors that place them at risk for juvenile justice contact. These programs utilize prosocial activities that engage at-risk youth to lower their risk of entering the juvenile justice system.

Examples: Boys and Girls Club, YMCA/YWCA, and mentoring or other positive youth development activities.

Early Intervention (EI)

Programs serve youth who have had some contact with the juvenile justice system; a youth who is on JD adjustment, PINS Diversion, or Voluntary Assessment and Case Planning Services (VACPS) would be a good candidate for this service type. EI programs could also serve children under 12 years of age who do not fall under the definition of a JD as of December 29, 2022, and whose behavior would otherwise bring them within the jurisdiction of the family court under Article 3 of the Family Court Act (FCA). These programs utilize prosocial activities in a targeted strategy to engage youth at risk of becoming, or alleged to be, a JD or PINS, or an alleged AO or JO engaged in VACPS who has not been referred for detention, to prevent further involvement in the juvenile justice system.

Examples: youth courts for alleged JD youth, respite services, restorative justice programs, and mediation.

Alternatives to Detention (ATD)/Alternatives to Pre-Dispositional Placement (ATPDP)

Programs that are intended to reduce the reliance on non-secure, secure, or specialized secure detention for youth alleged to be JDs, JOs, and AOs, or on pre-dispositional placement for youth alleged to be a PINS. ATD/ATPDP programs help ensure that youth return to court and remain crime free until the disposition of their case. The program service period is limited to the court case processing time frames.

Examples: specialized community supervision, calling services to remind youth to return to court, and electronic monitoring programs.

Alternatives to Placement (ATP)

Programs that serve adjudicated youth who would otherwise be placed out of home if not for programs that can maintain youth safely in the community. ATP programs can be used for youth adjudicated as PINS, JDs and YOs, or convicted as Jos or AOs. These programs target and address known criminogenic risk factors and identified needs.

Examples: evidence-based cognitive behavioral interventions, prosocial activities that target youth with leisure time/peer-group concerns, navigators/credible messengers/mentors, and substance abuse supports.

Reentry/Aftercare (R/A)

Programs that support youth’s reentry and reintegration into the community once released from residential placement and programs that reduce length of stay in residential placement.

Examples: vocational or educational support programs, prosocial activities for positive leisure time/building alternative choices, mentors/credible messengers/navigators, and housing supports.

Indirect Services (IS)

These programs are not on the continuum of service domains as they do not provide ongoing services to youth; however they do support the ultimate goals of STSJP.

Examples: incentives for youth, transportation vouchers for families and youth, youth justice coordination at the local level, and contractual assessments.

Additionally, STSJP funding can support expenditures of differential response programs, established in conjunction with the lower age of juvenile delinquency being raised for children under 12 years of age.

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