The JOINS Program is a partnership between the Baltimore County Police Department and the Department of Juvenile Services. Every Precinct in the county has a JOINS Team assigned to them. Each team is comprised of one police officer and one juvenile counselor. The teams work together to prevent future delinquent behaviors and help instill positivie ideologies and insights among juveniles ranging from ages 7-17.
In order to qualify for the JOINS Program, a juvenile must meet the following criteria:
- Be considered a threshhold misdemeanor offender (1st offense, no prior record).
- Victim must consent to the juvenile's participation in the program.
- Juvenile admits responsibility for their offense.
- The juvenile is determined by the JOINS Team to be amenable to treatment.
Each JOINS Team investigates every juvenile charge to determine who is eligible for the program. If the juvenile is determined to be eligible, the juvenile is assigned individualized sanctions to complete within 90 days. Some of these sanctions include:
- Curfew
- Community Restitution hours
- Essay
- Apology Letter
- Drug Treatment/Counseling/Testing
- Smoking Education
- Shoplifting Abatement Program
- Victim Awareness Program
- Anger Management Program
- Prison Trip
- Presentation
- Focus Group
If after the 90 days all sanctions are completed and the JOINS Team feels all the issues with the juvenile are resolved, the juvenile's case will be closed successfully and therefore they will not have a state juvenile record of his/her incident. If the juvenile does not meet all of the criteria, or fails to complete their supervisory period, their case will be forwarded to the Department of Juvenile Services and may be scheduled for an Intake conference. The case may then be entered into the state record keeping system of the Department of Juvenile Services.
Officer Scott, a 6-year veteran of the Baltimore County Police Department, is assigned as the JOINS Officer for both Precinct 06-Towson and Precinct 08-Parkville. She is an outstanding officer that works well with the young offenders. She is very committed to her position and feels that the young offenders can be given another chance to succeed. She works hard to make sure that the young offenders are following the strict guidelines of the JOINS Program. Officer Scott is not afraid to violate an offender if they do not comply with the guidelines set by the program.
The Department of Juvenile Services Representative, Ms. Anderson, is also very committed to her position. She is a very caring individual that works hard to have the young offenders commit to the program.
Both Officer Scott and Ms. Anderson work as a great team to have young offenders stop any future criminal activity. They truly believe that the younger people are our future leaders.
To contact the JOINS Team, you can call either 410-512-4070 or 410-716-4587.
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Revised August 8, 2006
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