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Youth Justice staff detail caseload pressures and transport challenges; county explores shared transport arrangements
Summary
Sarah, Youth Justice supervisor, told the Sawyer County committee the program has two full‑time workers, roughly 17 cases per worker, and uses deferred prosecution agreements to divert youth. County staff and the sheriff discussed high transport costs to juvenile detention centers and possible reciprocal arrangements to reduce contractor fees.
Sarah, supervisor of the Youth Justice program, gave an extended presentation July 9 explaining the program’s goals, processes and daily workload.
"Youth Justice is a statewide program to rehabilitate juveniles ages 10 to 16," Sarah said, and the program uses diversion strategies, including deferred prosecution agreements, to keep juveniles out of the adult court system when appropriate. She described the typical supervision window (six to 12 months), the YASI risk-assessment tool used statewide to set supervision levels, and common obligations on a DPA such as community service, restitution, counseling and random drug screening.
Sarah described the intensive administrative and field work that can follow a temporary physical custody (TPC) decision: staff must locate an open juvenile-detention bed, prepare court paperwork, inform parents, schedule hearings within 24 hours and, where needed, monitor electronic home arrest. She said TPCs consume substantial worker time and require significant documentation, which increases overall workload.
On staffing, Sarah said the unit now has two full-time Youth Justice workers, plus supervisory responsibility; caseloads averaged about 17 cases per worker—above what staff said is manageable for high‑risk youth (12–14 cases). The department has permission to hire an LTE worker to provide temporary relief while recruitment continues.
Transport to juvenile detention centers, and more broadly mental-health transports, emerged as a separate operational concern. Sheriff’s office and county staff discussed the high cost of contracted one-way trips from the Hayward area to Winnebago (one contractor quoted roughly $1,500 one-way). Joe (a county staff member) said the sheriff’s office is exploring reciprocal arrangements with municipal partners so local officers or deputies could be paid for county transports rather than relying on contractors.
What’s next: county law enforcement and partner agencies are scheduled to discuss transport coordination at an all‑agency meeting; staff said they will report back on options to reduce out‑of‑pocket contractor expenses and to clarify which agency is responsible for transport costs under state statute.
