1. Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice
DJJ Partnership
Volume 5, Issue 2 May 2009
Current Issue
Archived Issues History of after hours intake
DJJ Homepage In the early part of 2000, the Fairfax County Court Service Unit and the
28th District Court Service Unit were the first to utilize the concept of after
hours intake by way of video teleconferencing. Shortly thereafter, the
Inside this issue: Fairfax County Court Service Unit also began providing after hours intake
for the 9th District Court Service Unit. The 9th District Court Service Unit
JDAI grows was chosen as a pilot video intake site and currently processes intakes for
17 districts across Virginia, covering 77 localities.
Formal benefits kids
The original site for the Video Intake Unit is located at the Merrimac Ju-
venile Detention Center. The Video Intake Unit has expanded and cur-
Bon Air JCC teams rently operates out of three locations; the Merrimac Juvenile Detention
with Daily Planet Center, Williamsburg Court Service Unit-District Office, and the Glouces-
ter Court Service Unit, all located within the 9th District Court Service
Investing in girls Unit.
Grant expands Section 16.1-235.1 of the Code of Virginia allows for Replacement Intake
safety net Officers to provide after-hours intake for other jurisdictions, which means
the Chief Judge from another locality may arrange for a replacement in-
Lunch Buddy update take officer to complete an intake when a prompt response is required
(16.1-255) or during times the court is closed (16.1-260). The youth may
appear either by personal appearance before an intake officer, or by use of
Teens give
two-way electronic video and audio communication. A facsimile may be
Internship to a job served or executed by an officer as the original document. The 9th District
After-Hours Video Intake Officers are sworn in by a Chief Judge and by
way of an agreement and memorandum of understanding are allowed to
Video conferencing
complete intakes for other localities.
DJJ people Training of Court Service Unit staff, detention staff, and law enforcement
personnel is an integral part of the process. Countless hours of travel and
time have been saved as a result of this initiative and application of tech-
Drug Court honor nology.
2009 General
Assembly
Human Resources 9th District Court Service Unit
updates Video Intake Unit Operations
The video intake unit processes intakes from 4pm-8am weeknights and 24
hours a day on weekends and holidays. The Department of Juvenile Jus-
tice has allotted 3 full-time positions, one being a senior probation officer,
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2. and 7 part-time positions. The senior probation officer has additional duties and responsibilities such
as: unit shift coordination and scheduling, reviewing all intakes completed by staff, training of all per-
sonnel, responding to emergency situations or questions by staff during their shifts, training of new dis-
tricts, and statistical data compilation.
The after hours video intake policy and procedure manual was developed and follows state and depart-
mental guidelines. Video Intake Officers are to adhere to the policy and procedures related to unit op-
erations, employee orientation and training, intake procedures, and other districts intake process. Each
Court Service Unit’s on-call worker consults with the video intake officer and approves whether to detain
or release the juvenile.
Prior to being assigned a shift, each after hours video intake officer must undergo training on intake
process, probable cause, video teleconference and facsimile equipment, and using the Juvenile Tracking
System (JTS) to process the petitions and shelter care/detention order.
The Video Intake Unit is in the process of developing and utilizing a web-based encrypted multiparty
video solution through VIACK (www.viack.com), which is more cost effective than the video conferencing
equipment (Polycom/PictureTel) supported by the Supreme Court. The intake is completed over high
speed internet using a desktop or laptop computer and the documents can be signed electronically by
both parties with no additional cost for the calls. The documents can then be printed at each video site
without being faxed back and forth.
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