Keep Kids First Program

The program includes the following policies and components which are already being done or are in the process of being implemented:

• Zero tolerance and aggressive prosecution of child molesting, sexual misconduct with minors, child abuse and neglect cases.
  
  
• Filing of Neglect of Dependent felony criminal charges including for adults who drive intoxicated with children in their vehicles or who ingest or manufacture drugs in the presence of their children.
  
  
• Filing of Non-support of Dependent felony criminal charges against parents who intentionally fail or refuse to pay child support for their children despite being able to do so.
  
  
• Publish at least a yearly list of parents who fail or refuse to pay their child support despite being able to do so and request assistance from the public in locating parents who owe support and whose whereabouts are unknown.
  
  
• Attend monthly child protection team meetings with other professionals and concerned individuals to identify and protect at-risk children in our county and help develop a child protection task force to make sure cases are followed up on and charged in appropriate cases.
  
  
• Attend weekly meetings with county juvenile officer to review cases and recommend dispositions for juvenile offenders.
  
  
• Expand efforts to rehabilitate youth who commit crimes by requiring certain juvenile offenders to learn responsibility by joining worthwhile organizations such as scouting, 4-H, church youth groups, and sport leagues and requiring certain juvenile offenders to attend tutoring or additional schooling.
  
  
• Increase the use of community service work for juvenile offenders by recommending placement in the new community service program and challenge the community to develop mentoring programs for at-risk youth which can be used as part of juvenile dispositions to promote responsibility and learning from positive role models.
  
  
• Expand the education and treatment alternatives for juvenile offenders and recommend the use of military style juvenile boot camps for more serious juvenile offenders in addition to the traditional alternative of detention.
  
  
• Recommend detention and placement alternatives for serious and/or habitual juvenile offenders to Court.
  
  
• Provide written consequence sheets to our youth for them to sign which clearly set out the consequences of a violation of their probation or what will happen if they offend again and will consistently enforce those consequences.
  
  
• Support SWAY and SAFE HAVEN programs in our schools which provide youth with worthwhile opportunities and constructive recreational opportunities.
  
  
• Support DARE and dispute resolutions programs to encourage anti-drug, alcohol, and violence programs for youth.
  
  
• Reactivate and participate in S.H.O.C.A.P. (Serious Habitual Offender Community Action Program) to share information with other agencies and professionals to identify juveniles who are serious habitual offenders and offer assistance to those juveniles to attempt to prevent future criminal behavior.
  
  
• Implement as part of the "Keep Kids First" program an intensive supervision for at-risk children by meeting with them and their families in the Prosecutor's office as well as by doing alcohol and drug testing on certain at-risk youth.
  
  
• Provide safety-tips at Halloween such as on Halloween bags to every elementary school student in Spencer County reminding children to have their parents inspect their candy prior to eating it and request the tips be paid for by offender monies instead of county general, taxpayer money.
  
  
• Regularly select a child or adult who works with children to be recognized for the positive impact they make in our communities and recognize them with a certificate of appreciation and publicity. It is important to remember and recognize that in addition to the juvenile offenders that we have in our county that we also have many children and adults helping children that are doing positive things to make our county a better place to live each and every day.
  
  
• Participate in the implementation of a school safety committee and increase communications and coordination with our schools to make sure serious juvenile offenders are prosecuted and to make sure our schools have security plans in place for student safety.
  
  
• Provide schools with the latest legal information on constitutional student searches and support use of the drug dog for unannounced sweeps of schools for contraband.
  
  
• Provide equal treatment of all juveniles regardless of factors such as community, family name or position in the community, wealth, politics, race, or extracurricular activities in school.