Juvenile Accountability Court (JAC)

Juvenile Accountability Court

Pre-Diversion Program

We partner with all districts (1st grade- twelfth grade)

About The Service

Juvenile Accountability Court is a diversion program that works in conjunction with the Juvenile Justice System and the Office of the District Attorney which aims to provide students and their parents with the knowledge of the NM Compulsory Attendance Law, coping mechanisms to deal with teenage life, and education for parents.
Students are monitored on a weekly basis and work with their case worker to overcome issues that keeping them from attending school, improve their grades and attend school on a regular basis that complies with the NM Statue.
A case worker can make referrals to inside and outside agencies to provide added support including but not limited to mental health counseling, medical check ups and homework clubs/tutoring.

Eligibility

Students who have accumulated 5 unexcused absences or show a tendency to abuse their excused absences. JAC is also open to those students who have a history of truancy or absenteeism.
A referring agency may also refer a student if there are behavioral issues that need closer monitoring.

Duration and Referral

JAC works with a student and their family for 90 days with the possibility of being extended up to 120 days based on the students progress, the families growth and the referring agencies consideration.
Referrals will be accepted from: San Juan County District Schools, Juvenile Probation, Desert View’s FSS Program, JCC Program, Wraparound Program and CYFD.

What is Juvenile Accountability Court?

San Juan County’s JAC supports student accountability by providing support, structure, resources, and accountability for students (and their parents) who struggle with chronic tardiness or absenteeism or behavioral infractions.

San Juan County’s JAC (which is a program of Desert View Family Counseling) has been serving Students and families in our community since 2008.

JAC is a diversion program for students and families who want to avoid getting involved with the legal system because of truancy and behavior issues that have escalated with the school district.

One on one case coordination, personal accountability (for both grades and attendance), mandatory participation in our “No Opportunities Wasted (N.O.W.) life Skills Group. Community Service Projects,

All students who struggles with substance abuse will require an assessment, counseling, substance group and possible drug testing.

Students are referred to us by the Farmington, Aztec, Bloomfield and Kirtland Schools.

About JAC

WHAT IS TRUANCY?

An unexcused absence from school or excessive (10 or more) excused absences from school
States enact school attendance laws which determine:
The age at which a child is required to begin attending school
The age at which a child may legally drop out of school
The number of unexcused absences which make a student legally truant
In many states, youth missing more than 10 days of school are required to repeat the entire school year.
Truancy is a major problem nationwide, yet states do little to prevent it and little to re-engage truant youth.

Children who are truant are more likely to:

Have lower grades
Be suspended or expelled
Drop out
Be delinquent
Be unemployed after age 18
Cost the community a lot of resources

Responsibilities of Student Defendants.

The student must appear for an intake with his/her parent, guardian, or custodian.
The student must complete his/her requirements within the time frame given (usually 60-90 days depending on the case).
Students must follow JAC rules of conduct.
The student must not commit any other offenses or behavioral infractions while on JAC.

New Student Court Referrals

Parent or guardian will be sent a summons in the mail for a specific date to meet with our JAC Team. During that time, the rules and expectations are discussed as well as filling out all paperwork pertaining to your case. If you know that you have been referred and have not yet received a summons please contact us. The student must have parent or guardian with them!

Current Student Court Clients

Remember to check in weekly! You can do this by calling or texting.
Grade Tracking Forms can either be dropped off or emailed to Ja’Nece at

[email protected]
or
[email protected]

These need to be turned in every week.