Juvenile Officer ~ Cindy Delay
PO Box 5050, Newport, WA 99156
(509) 447-4021
The Primary function of the Pend Oreille County Juvenile Department is to ensure state mandated functions/programs are complied with. This is usually accomplished in one of two ways, by:
- Holding kids accountable to the Court’s order and enforcing it.
- Assisting the Court in providing Juvenile Court Services to appropriate kids and families in need.
These functions are generally carried out in one of two ways – Criminal or BECCA.
Kids charged with a crime will ether go through the Diversion process or through Juvenile Court. Diversion is a confidential program for minor or first time offenders in which they are not actually convicted of a crime but are held responsible for their actions by appearing before the volunteer Community Accountability Board. They are given sanctions for their behavior including community service, counseling/education classes and loss of driver’s licenses for drug or alcohol crimes. Repeat or felony offenders appear in Superior Court and if convicted may go to detention (Martin Hall) and are placed on probation. Probation consists of rules the Judge believes will help the youth stay out of further trouble. These court ordered rules include such things as mandatory school attendance, counseling, urinalysis testing, curfew, etc.
The BECCA process consists of 3 programs – Truancy, At Risk Youth (ARY) and Child In Need Of Services (CHINS). The Washington Compulsory Education Law requires kids under 18 to go to school. If too many days are missed, a youth has the option of getting his/her education in Martin Hall or following the Judge’s order by going to regular school. ARY and CHINS are programs to help families in conflict by protecting kids who, through their behaviors, put them in serious danger of harming themselves or others. These behaviors may include such things as substance abuse, chronic running away, violence, etc.
We also provide services such as emancipation, marriage waivers, links to other community resources such as Job Corps and counseling.