Uniform Juvenile Intake Procedures

Abstract

As noted in the Alaska Corrections Master Plan, intake screening for juvenile offenders for detention and petition is performed in some communities by Alaska Court System employees and in others by employees of the Alaska Department of Corrections. This circumstance, as well as differing community standards, results in divergent practices in different parts of the state. Legislation will be recommended to the 1981 Alaska legislature to unify the administration of intake services in the new Division of Youth Services, and to set forth criteria and standards for decisions with respect to the preadjudication detention of youth and the petitioning of youth to the juvenile court. This report examines the development nationally of standards for secure detention of juveniles and disposition of juvenile cases, and presents recommendations for the administration of intake services, secure detention, and judicial and nonjudicial handling of cases at intake in Alaska.