Youth and Families

Provider Partners

Oklahoma Association of Youth Services (OAYS)

OAYS Member Agencies

Education

Career and Job Assistance

Legal Support

OK Legal Aid

Family Support

Health & Safety

Juvenile Services Unit (JSU) and Field Operations

JSU provides intake, assessment, treatment planning, probation and parole services, supervision as well as reintegration to juveniles in all seventy-seven counties, except for those with duly constituted Juvenile Bureaus. The Juvenile Bureaus are located in Canadian, Comanche, Oklahoma and Tulsa counties. In those four (4) counties, JSU provides parole and reintegration services.

Services provided to youth are balanced with prevention, education, treatment and accountability to ensure public safety. A full continuum of services is provided to encourage and enhance positive, law-abiding behavior. Youth are provided a thorough risk and needs assessment, individualized treatment plan or rehabilitation plan along with services and programs designed to meet their needs and build upon their strengths.

JSU staff participate in all court proceedings for all Office of Juvenile Affairs (OJA) youth involved in the juvenile justice system. The continuum of care starts at the time a youth and their family come into a JSU office. Any proceedings that follow the initial contact with OJA will be supervised by JSU. Local JSU staff will follow the juveniles from intake, through the court process, out of home placement (if necessary) and in their return to the community.

JSU staff maintain an active role in their communities and in partnership with local Judiciary, District Attorneys, law enforcement and youth serving agencies to develop community based resources for youth and families throughout Oklahoma.

Administrative Rules

Administrative rules, also commonly referred to as regulations or administrative code, are created by state agencies to implement federal and state legislation and/or directive and have the effect of law, see 75 O.S. §§ 250 - 308.3. The Board of Juvenile Affairs is the rule-making authority for the Office of Juvenile Affairs (OJA), see 10A O.S. § 2-7-101. Before becoming effective, rules are subject to a comprehensive rule-making process that includes review and approval by the Oklahoma Legislature.

Native American Resources

In 2015 the Office of Juvenile Affairs (OJA) worked with State Legislators Representative Seneca Scott and Senator A.J. Griffith, through the Native American Juvenile Justice Task Force, to pass into state law requiring notification of Native Nations when citizen youth come into contact with the system. As a part of the intake process, an employee of the OJA or a county juvenile bureau shall inquire as to whether there is any American Indian lineage or ancestry that would make the child eligible for membership or citizenship in a federally recognized American Indian tribe or nation. If the employee of OJA or a county juvenile bureau determines that the child may have American Indian lineage or ancestry, the employee shall notify the primary tribe or nation of membership or citizenship.

Native American juveniles represent over 16% of the juveniles in OJA custody. Our hope is that by building these bridges, we can:

Work cooperatively with the Tribes to prevent juvenile tribal members from entering the Juvenile Justice System;
Assist the Tribes with options for repeat offenders;
To assist the Tribes, if needed, ways to build community programs that make the juveniles accountable for their actions to their Tribal leaders;
To assist the Tribes with additional resources they can turn to when help is needed in either building prevention programs, or just calling for information when trying to locate placement assistance for juveniles.

Native American

In 2015, OJA worked with Representative Seneca Scott and Senator A.J. Griffith, through the Native American Juvenile Justice Task Force, to create state law requiring notification of to Native Nations when citizen youth come into contact with the system. As a part of the intake process, an employee of the OJA or a county juvenile bureau shall inquire as to whether there is any American Indian lineage or ancestry that would make the child eligible for membership or citizenship in a federally recognized American Indian tribe or nation. If the employee of OJA or a county juvenile bureau determines that the child may have American Indian lineage or ancestry, the employee shall notify the primary tribe or nation of membership or citizenship.

Please visit the Public Administrative Rule website.