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A.C. Berry
Director of Field Services |
The Field Services Division of the
W.C.J.S. provides supervision to youth placed on court ordered
probation and deferred prosecution. Probation is administered
through a multi-tiered level system, a continuum of sanctions, and
specialized programs. The level system seeks to provide
supervision/surveillance according to a defined risk assessment.
The level of supervision could range from one contact per month to
being placed on intensive supervision in which a juvenile would have
two probation officers assigned and could be seen by an officer up
to six days a week. Additionally, the field division may provide
surveillance for a youth on electronic monitoring pending court or
as a condition of probation. In addition to Intensive Supervision,
the field services provides specialized officers for sex offenders,
substance abuse, mental health cases, and youth ordered into the
family preservation unit.
Programs administered through the field section include: Victim
Services, Victim Mediation, Victim Empathy, Community Service
Restitution, Drug Awareness, TYC Tours, Youth Life Skills, and Cognitive
Skills. The field section assists with Operation Outreach trips in
collaboration with the “Don’t Choose Crime Officers”.
The
division has two types of unique personnel that are Certified Probation
Officers as well as teachers or full time specialized school district
employees. These are Coordinating Officers of Probation and Education
Services (C.O.P.E.S.) and Transitional Educational Aftercare Mentoring
Services (T.E.A.M.S.). C.O.P.E.S. officers are placed at three middle
schools, ninth grade center and high school through the Georgetown
Independent School District. These officers assist the supervision of
cases on those campuses and provide a liaison between student, school
and probation. The T.E.A.M.S. officers are placed in other schools
located in the county that were identified as having high referral and
expulsion rates to our J.J.A.E.P. These officers assist with the
student’s transition and/or return to their home campus from the
J.J.A.E.P.
The
field probation section also processes incoming cases that are reviewed
and referred to the unit by the Williamson County Attorney’s Office
after a probable cause determination, and a decision to proceed without
formal court proceedings. Misdemeanor offenses of a non-violent nature
are directly referred to the field unit for intake and disposition.
