Youth Services FAQ

No. The primary goal of Cowley County Youth Services and juvenile justice in Kansas is to prevent those youth from entering the system that don’t need to be in the system. Youth Services can make referrals to certain programs and services to work with you and your child to fix the problem in the community and in your home – which is best practice.

Law enforcement has a number of options at their disposal for handling juvenile cases. Most often they will issue a juvenile that has been charged with a juvenile offense and their parent/guardian a Notification to Appear that will direct the juvenile and guardian to contact our specially trained juvenile intake and assessment staff within the next business day. It is very important that parents/guardians follow the directions on the Notification to Appear as the job of juvenile intake is to assist the juvenile and the family by determining what areas of risk the juvenile is exposed to and for helping guide the juvenile’s case either into the justice system or away from the system through what we call an immediate intervention (diversion).

Research suggests that exposing a juvenile to other offenders is risky and that actually makes the situation worse, rather than better. Television programs have dramatized the effects of scared straight programs, usually not exposing or identifying the long-term side-effects of sending a juvenile to a program like scared straight. Kansas does not offer programs like these as evidence suggests this is not best practice in juvenile justice. The goal of Kansas juvenile justice programming is to keep the juvenile in the community using evidence-based (programs that have been shown to be effective through research and data gathering) programs.

Kansas calls what you probably refer to as “juvie,” or “juvenile hall” as detention. Detention Centers exist to provide a secure placement for juveniles that pose a significant risk to the community and only in certain instances will juvenile offenders qualify for placement in a secure juvenile detention center. If your child is having extreme (beyond what is normal teenage behavioral issues) problems, please contact juvenile intake and assessment at 620-221-3454, ext. 5240.

We have a variety of evidence based programs available to juveniles and families of youth that are having problem behaviors or have become involved in the juvenile justice system. Placement in these programs is determined by risk and need assessment results. Self/Parent referrals are welcome: please contact juvenile intake and assessment at 620-221-3454, ext. 5240.

Juvenile Offender programs provide services for youth ages 10 and up. The truancy program serves any student enrolled in school in Cowley county that is experiencing any attendance related issues.

Transportation to programs and services are available to qualified participants.
 

All juvenile information will be maintained in a strict and confidential manner. The agency and supervising officers will limit case records access to only those persons and agencies that demonstrate they have legal authority to access such information. However we are mandated reporters so any reports of child abuse or neglect are required by law to be reported to the appropriate authorities. This would include all instances of physical or sexual abuse.

Truancy has been identified as an early warning sign of students heading towards potentially delinquent activity and is frequently an indicator of a more serious underlying problem. Kansas statutes provide that a student is "truant" if they are absent without excuse, for a "significant portion" of the school day, for three consecutive days, or five days in a semester, or seven days in a school year

The juvenile and/or parents will be contacted by the Truancy Officer to discuss what is affecting the students attendance and attempt to develop a plan to improve students attendance.

We do not sell drug test kits, tests are available at local retail stores, pharmacies and on-line. We also do not drug test youth who are not in one of our court ordered supervision or diversion programs.
 

We are typically open Monday – Friday 8:00AM – 5:00PM, we are willing to work around parents and students schedules as needed.

We are not a mental health provider and do not provide substance abuse treatment or counseling. We do however; partner with local vendors to provide substance abuse counseling.
 

The Parent Project is an evidence based parent education program specifically designed for parents/families of youth experiencing behavior problems such as: criminal behavior, running away, skipping school, substance abuse, suicidal tendencies, drug use, gang affiliation, etc.…