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Supervision official reports juvenile caseload growth, increased referrals to county behavioral-health programs
Summary
Martin Mateo told Belknap County commissioners the supervision program is about 39% through its budget year, juvenile enrollment has grown from 4 to 15 and pretrial work has referred over half of participants to behavioral-health services in the county.
Martin Mateo, introduced to the board by the chair, told Belknap County commissioners that the county’s supervision program is “about 39 percent used” of its annual budget and reported steady program growth and outreach efforts.
Mateo said revenue collections stand at “about $1,472, all in fees” and that he does not see any immediate budget problems, though he noted some small transfers will be needed to cover routine expenses such as toner cartridges. "I don't see any real big issues with budget yet," he said.
On program operations, Mateo described recent training, court-based presentations with public defenders and prosecutors, and outreach to local schools. He said the juvenile case manager’s work has helped expand the juvenile program from four participants to 15 (13 females and 2 males). "We started with 4. We're at 15," Mateo said.
Mateo highlighted coordination with treatment providers and said the pretrial program has made substantial referrals into county behavioral-health services: pretrial has referred 52% of participants to the behavioral-health program and 42% were accepted. "We're the biggest feeder right now for that program," Mateo said.
Commissioners asked operational questions about where juveniles meet and about the relative merits of online versus in-person training. Mateo said online courses are helpful for continuing-education credits and for reaching some staff, but that in-person sessions are better for relationship-building with community stakeholders. "For networking and building those relationships with community stakeholders, I think the in person stuff is better," he said.
Mateo also invited commissioners to sit on planned community panels with juveniles so board members could observe and understand program work. He said staff or the case manager will reach out through Karina to coordinate volunteers.
The presentation closed with commissioners expressing appreciation for the update and the chair thanking Mateo for the report. The meeting then moved on to the county’s financial and administrative updates.
