Juvenile Assessment Center | Broward County (2024)

Mission: To ensure all youth receive timely, professional services to assess their individual strengths and needs, and to make referrals for services to prevent juvenile delinquency.

The Juvenile Assessment Center (JAC) is the central receiving and intake facility for all arrested juveniles in Broward County. The JAC is a 24 hour 7 day a week processing facility for arrested youth. Youth brought to the JAC by law enforcement officers are fingerprinted, photographed and booked. In addition, youth receive assessments of their risk to the public, mental health and substance abuse disorders, and referral to court and community services.

Juvenile Assessment Team (JAT)

Mission: Prevent future criminal behavior and arrests of at-risk youth served by the Juvenile Assessment Team by successfully linking youth and their families to therapeutic services to increase protective factors address behavioral health issues and provide hope for a better future outlook for the youth we serve.

The mission of the Juvenile Assessment Team is to prevent future criminal behavior and arrests of the at-risk youth served by the Juvenile Assessment Team. Our goal is to successfully link youth and their families to therapeutic services to increase protective factors address behavioral health issues and provide hope for a better future outlook for the youth we serve. The JAT and the families we serve share a common aim to help our kids in Broward county make a positive change from delinquency to a happy, healthy and productive life.

Community Justice Program (CJP)

Mission: The Community Justice Program is a voluntary program established to provide Civil Citation (pre-arrest) and diversion (post arrest) options for juvenile offenders who reside in Broward County. The Community Justice Program provides pre and post arrest diversion services to youth ages 7 to 17 that are referred for criminal offenses allegedly committed within Broward County. Juveniles enter the voluntary program via pre-arrest Civil Citation referral issued by a law enforcement officer or via a post arrest diversion referral from the State Attorney's Office. The program also attends to the needs of crime victims (associated with the juvenile's case) and the community through the implementation of restorative justice principles.

The goal of the Community Justice Program is to accomplish the following:

• Decrease recidivism
• Reduce youth risk factors
• Provide and link youth to appropriate community services to meet their social, educational and health needs
• Youth will achieve/maintain positive school performance, attendance and behavior
• Strengthen and improve family relationships
• Strengthen youth attachment to community
• Address victim needs for counseling, reparation and restitution
• Address community needs for safety

Civil Citation

Mission: All youth who have committed a minor first-time, second and third time misdemeanor offense will have the opportunity to participate in a pre-arrest civil citation program without being arrested. Rather than issuing an arrest, police officers will issue the juvenile a civil citation where the youth has the option of entering into a voluntary program. During enrollment, the youth will receive an assessment and application of appropriate, targeted interventions without the stigma of an arrest. Program participation ranges approximately 90-120 days. Upon successful completion of the Civil Citation Program, no entry will be made into criminal databases which may be released even if the record is sealed or expunged.

​IF YOU ARE DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING, YOU ARE ENTITLED TO INTERPRETER SERVICES AT NO COST TO YOU. PLEASE INFORM STAFF OF THE TYPE OF AUXILIARY AID OR SERVICE YOU NEED. IN ADDITION, SERVICES MAY BE ACCESSED THROUGH FLORIDA RELAY by dialing 7-1-1 or calling toll free: 1-800-955-8770 (Voice), 1-800-955-8771 (TTY), 1-877-955-8773 (Spanish), 1-877-955-8707 (French Creole).