15th District Court Unit

Our mission is a commitment to excellence in public safety through the provision of an “integrated approach” by providing effective interventions that modify delinquent behavior, meet the needs of offenders and victims, improve the lives of youth and strengthen families within Stafford County while managing our activities and resources in a responsible and proactive manner.

Juvenile Intake

• Intake services are provided 24 hours a day. Receive, review and process civil and criminal matters for the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

Investigations and Reports

• Social histories make up most of the reports that Court Services Unit (CSU) personnel complete. These court-ordered investigations describe the social adjustment of youth before the court and provide timely, relevant and accurate data for dispositional decisions.

Domestic Relations

• Provide intake services and drug screens for domestic relations complaints.

Probation & Parole Services

• Focuses resources on those juvenile offenders with the highest risk of reoffending by addressing the individual criminogenic/risk factors contributing to the initiation and continuation of delinquent behavior.

Electronic Incarceration Program

• Provides a cost-effective alternative to secure detention for juvenile offenders without an increased risk to public safety.

Personnel

• 4.5% Pay Scale Adjustment
• 2.0% Salary Increase
• 2.13% increase in Virginia Retirement System Rate
• .03% decrease in the Virginia Retiree Health Insurance Credit Rate

Operating

• Restore FY21 budget reductions

• System-identified juveniles will be deterred from committing new offenses for public safety.
• Only juveniles at high risk to public safety are placed in secure detention and appropriate juveniles are diverted from the court for public safety and service excellence.
• Unit operations will be consistent with the Code of Virginia, the Department of Juvenile Justice standards, the Court Service Unit Policy and Procedures Manual, and all applicable policy and procedures for service excellence.
• Demonstrates excellence in leadership and stays on the cutting edge of evidence-based practices for education.

• Per CSU records, less than 20% of youth on probation were low-risk offenders exceeding agency targeted goal
• There were zero probationers/parolees arrested for violent felonies during the 2021 performance cycle
• Per Community Insight’s Intake Offenses by Decision, between 10/01/20 and 09/30/21, the unit diverted 93% of identified divertible cases on average. Of those cases diverted from the court, 100% successfully fulfilled contract obligations.
• The CSU underwent certification analysis audit assessment by the Department of Juvenile Justice in September 2020 and passed state certification effective through 2023
• All CSU staff exceeded the agency’s Continuous Learning Objective