JDRDC has 2 probation offices: North County, & South County. Probation officers are assigned based on a youth's location in the county and what school they attend. If you attend an alternative school, your probation officer will be assigned by your base school.
If you have been ordered probation, a probation officer will contact you soon. To find out which office you will be assigned to, locate your school on one of the probation office's web page.
A probation officer in Fairfax County will be assigned to you and will coordinate probation supervision with the court services unit where you live. A probation officer will be in contact with you and will explain to you the next steps.
There is a standard set of rules for each child to follow that include things such as obeying laws, remaining at home at night, following a curfew, attending school, meeting with the Probation Officer for scheduled meetings, and not using drugs or alcohol. There are additional rules that may be added that may be part of a court order such as completing anger management classes or victim impact classes. It is the expectation that parents or guardians will work with the Probation Officer to help your child follow the rules and any treatment efforts. It is also expected that parents or guardians will notify the Probation Officer if your child is not following the rules.
Your child will be seen according to the level of supervision determined by the Probation Officer. Your child may be seen face to face as often as one time per month up to five times per month. Visits may occur in the office, at your home, at school or another designated area.
Most youth on probation are allowed to have a job but you can talk more about this with your child’s probation officer.
There are times that a child may be brought back to court for not following the rules of probation or not following court orders. If this occurs, it is referred to as a violation of probation. Not all violations of rules may result in returning to court if the probation officer, client and family are able to address these issues.
No, a youth may be held under juvenile probation supervision until the age of 21 if deemed necessary. Your period of probation supervision is what the Judge wrote on your court order and should be reflected on the probation rules; this may be beyond your 18th birthday.
We encourage you to talk with the assigned probation officer if your child is not following rules. Together you can talk about ways to address the behavior.
A youth may be able to leave the state with prior approval from their probation officer and completing the necessary paperwork. The probation officer will need to know who the youth will be traveling with, where they are going, why they are going there and how long they will be gone. The probation officer will let the youth and family know if the youth is approved for out-of-state travel.
It depends on what the Judge orders for the length of probation. Sometimes a Judge may order a designated period of probation, such as 6 months or one year, or they may place a youth on indefinite probation which does not have an end date specified. The child’s court order and probation rules will reflect how long their period of supervision is.