The Monroe County Sheriff's Office assumed responsibility for two important juvenile crime prevention programs in January of 2001. Sheriff Peryam believes in juvenile intervention programs because he feels we must become involved immediately with youthful offenders to help prevent further delinquent behavior and to prevent youthful offenders from becoming adult offenders.

The intervention programs are Intensive Delinquency Diversion Service or IDDS and Teen Court. IDDS is financed through a contract with the Department of Juvenile Justice that provides 40 slots for juvenile offenders overseen by two highly trained caseworkers. Teen Court is financed through a surcharge on court cases. One full time caseworker operates the program county-wide.

Intensive Delinquency Diversion Service (IDDS)

Intensive Delinquency Diversion Services (IDDS) is an alternative to the formal juvenile justice system for youth who have been charged with a minor crime. As a diversion program, IDDS targets intensive services to a specific population of youth who, according to research, are most likely to become chronic and serious offenders if they do not receive early help. They share certain high-risk factors, including first offense at the age 15 or younger, poor school performance and truancy, lack of parental supervision, substance abuse problems, or gang affiliation. Other diversion programs include Community Arbitration, Juvenile Alternative Services Program (JASP), Teen Court, Civil Citation, Boy and Girl Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs, mentoring programs, and alternative schools. These programs employ a variety of non-judicial sanctions, including:

• Restitution (payment) to the victim(s);
• Community service hours;
• Letter of apology to the victim(s);
• Curfew;
• Forfeiture of driver's license;
• Encouragement to avoid contact with co-defendants, friends, or acquaintances who are deemed to be inappropriate associations;
• Referrals to local social service agencies; and
• Substance abuse or mental health counseling.

The target population includes all male and female youth under 18 years of age with a focus upon youth 16 yrs. old and younger. These youth are referred to the Department of Juvenile Justice for delinquent behavior that if committed by an adult would be criminal acts. These youth are at high risk of becoming serious or chronic offenders.

The counseling program strives to facilitate positive changes in the youths behavior and a change in direction away from the delinquent mind-set.

Admission criteria for children to be considered:

• First, the child must have the approval of the State Attorney for admittance to the program.
• Second, The focus will be on children under 16, while children 16 and 17 yr olds will be addressed on a case by case basis.
• Third, the child must be DJJ assessed as having great potential for chronic delinquent behavior reflected by at least three of ten risk factors in the areas of school performance, home and family, and pre-delinquent behaviors.

Through partnerships with local agencies, a wide variety of counseling and educational services are available to the youths in the program at reduced or no cost. The program focuses on many problematic areas, including family issues, gender specific (Adolescent Girls) issues, and minority over-representation issues. Regarding family issues, the aim will be to develop services to address the needs of the family directed toward improving family function. Relative to gender specific (Adolescent Girls) and minority over-representation issues program services will be identified and delivered with the goal of fostering positive identity development. Further, program services are intended to deal with risk factors relating to the gender specific and minority populations by addressing the protective factors and skill competencies, which are intended to deter future delinquent behavior.

Services are provided six days a week, and outside the traditional 8 AM to 5 PM workday. The following components are provided:

• Case Management provides referral, and coordination of program services and weekly client contact .
• Treatment Planning establishes a treatment team to staff the child, and family within ten days of admission into the program assessing needs and developing an individualized service plan.

Evaluation of the youth is initiated within 72 hours of admission. The evaluation includes: strengths and needs assessment of family members as they relate to the school, community, and support systems for parent and child. A behavior management program is established to include communication and life skills counseling and social support networking. Behavior Modification Techniques and tools are also be introduced to the family.

Other areas of education support and behavior modification include: Social skill enhancement, self sufficiency, skill enhancement, life skill enhancement, mental health and counseling services, substance abuse counseling, education/academic assistance, pre-vocational services, community work service and restitution to victims.

Teen Court / Civil Citation Program

Download a brochure about the Teen Court program

Frequently Asked Questions about Florida's Civil Citation Program

The Teen Court program and the Civil Citation Program are both aimed at providing immediate intervention with the provision of sanctions and services in an effort to divert the child away from ongoing delinquent behavior.

Youth who receive Civil Citations for misdemeanors receive a needs assessment and are assigned sanctions based upon the needs assessment. These youth may be assigned to Teen Court based upon their needs. The youth are given from 30-60 days to complete the sanctions. A Case Manager meets with the youth and parents at least bi-weekly to review progress and
offer counseling. If a youth fails to satisfactorily complete the program, the Case Manager sends the original citation to the Office of the State Attorney with a request to review the case in Juvenile Court.

After receiving a Citation for a misdemeanor offense, the youth and his or her parent/guardian must contact the Juvenile Programs office within seven days to set an appointment for an interview. At the interview, if the youth admits to the charge, he/she is informed of the rules of the applicable program.

For more information, contact Juvenile Diversion Program Supervisor Sherwood Hanford via email at shanford@keysso.net or by phone at 305-292-7129.

Questions or Comments?
Contact Deputy Becky Herrin, Public Information Officer and Web Author or Sheriff Robert P. Peryam via e-mail
For other phone and e-mail contact information, see the "Contact Information" page.  

This web site was last updated September 12, 2011