The County of Berks offices and services are currently open only to individuals with appointments and to conduct essential business that cannot be postponed or conducted remotely.
For the safety and well-being of our staff and residents, individuals that need to come to the County offices are asked to come with the least amount of companions possible.
Please contact the office prior to reporting. Those individuals with scheduled court hearings will be contacted should the hearing be postponed. The office remains open between 8 am – 5 pm.
ATTENTION:
If you are feeling sick or have symptoms, please call your probation officer before coming in to the office. If you do not receive a response from your probation officer, please call our front desk and ask to speak with someone.
Mission: We are committed to
Public Safety, Justice for Victims, the Reparation of the Community, and
Accountability and Personal Development of Offenders with Respectful Treatment
for All Involved.
The Berks County Juvenile
Probation Office is an arm of the Juvenile Court of the 23rd Judicial District
of Pennsylvania. The majority of referrals are received from the police
departments charging youth, ages 10-17, with delinquent acts. The Juvenile Probation
Office is responsible for holding offenders accountable by monitoring and
enforcing Court orders and probation plans. At any given time, on average, the
Juvenile Probation Office supervises approximately 450 youth, countywide.
Probation officers are assigned to each school district in the County and serve
not only as the liaison for each school in the district, but in the
corresponding communities as well. The Berks County Juvenile Probation Office
offers a wide range of programs and services for youth and their families.
The current PA Juvenile Justice System Enhancement Strategy (JJSES) is evidence of the mindset of
system reflection and improvement and an emphasis on capacity building. The
principles of Balanced and Restorative
Justice (BARJ) remain key, with the Enhancement Strategy supporting
the achievement of the BARJ goals. Critical to these efforts is the use of
evidence-based practices (EBP), data analysis and an ongoing focus on improving
the quality of decisions, services and programs.
Since the adoption of the
JJSES back in 2010, the Berks County Juvenile Probation Office has been able to
use these evidenced-based practices to decrease the number of youth on juvenile
probation, the number of youth entering secure detention and the number of
youth entering out of home residential placement. We’ve also been able to significantly reduce
recidivism with those we supervise. Recidivism for Berks County youth, defined
as a youth found to have committed a subsequent offense 2 years after case
closure, has decreased from 20% for cases closed in 2010 to 13% for cases
closed in 2018. This is the lowest recidivism rate for all 3rd Class
counties in Pennsylvania. As a result of reducing recidivism and lowering the
number of youth penetrating the juvenile justice system, we are spending $4.5
million less than we spent in 2010. A significant savings to the taxpayers of
Berks County. Our goal when working with
youth is to instill in them long term behavior change. To have them held
accountable for offenses committed, repair harm done to the victim and the
community and to teach them skills so once their case is closed, they become
productive members of the community.