The Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Department for Community Based Services (DCBS) has a statutory responsibility to provide appropriate services to children who have been placed on supervision or committed by the Family Status court or the District juvenile court to the Cabinet as status offenders.
A status offense, as defined in KRS Chapter 600, is an act that can be brought before the court, which if committed by an adult, would not be a crime. Such acts include, but are not limited to, beyond control of parent or school, truancy, runaway and/or alcohol and tobacco charges.
Services to status offenders and their families may include, assisting the court by preparing pre-disposition reports based on the assessment, working with community partners/agencies in order to provide diversion or treatment services in the home, arranging for appropriate family and individual counseling as needed and/or arranging for out of home placement in foster care or residential care as needed.
When a youth deemed to be a status offender is placed in out of home care, the SSW follows all out of home care SOP (Chapter 4-Out of Home Care Services) in addition to the SOP found in this chapter when working with the youth and family.