Ky.gov
Effective: 7/1/2015

9.2 Kentucky Status Offenders

Legal Authority

Introduction

​​​​​Prior to any court action on any status offense complaint, the parties involved will meet with the Court Designated Worker (CDW) to determine if the complaint needs to be referred to the court, referred to a public or private social services agency and to enter a diversionary agreement.

If the child successfully completes the diversionary agreement, the case is closed; however, failure to comply with diversionary agreement will result in a formal court referral. If the court adjudicates the finding of status offender, the court can order DCBS to complete a predisposition investigation (PDI) report. When this occurs, the SSW follows procedural steps laid out in this SOP.

Practice Guidance

Procedure

The SSW:
  1. Enters the intake a “Court Related/Status Offender” in TWIST; 
  2. Completes Sections 1-5 of the Court Ordered Status Offender ADT, but does not finalize it or submit it prior to attending the court hearing; 1 
  3. Takes the ADT sections that have been completed to court and utilizes it as the PDI. 2 
  4. If the status offender is released at the dispositional hearing, the SSW: 
    1. Completes Section 6 of the ADT; 
    2. Selects “Close Referral” in the “Outcome” section; and 
    3. Completes an Aftercare Plan. 
  5. If the status offender is probated to DCBS at the dispositional hearing, the SSW: 
    1. Completes Section 6 of the ADT; 
    2. Selects “In home ongoing case” in the “Outcome” section; 
    3. Develops an in home case plan; and 
    4. Assists the family and child in accessing community services by completing the following: 
      1. Referrals to family preservation services; 
      2. Referrals to intensive in-home services; 
      3. Referrals of the family to homemaker services; 
      4. Short term crises intervention; 
      5. Dispute mediation; 
      6. Parent training; or 
      7. Community restitution services; and 
      8. Follows up with the community service provider to assure the completion, or lack thereof, of the community service if a child is to voluntarily perform community service as a diversion. 
  6. If the status offender is committed to DCBS at the dispositional hearing, the SSW: 
    1. Completes Section 6 of the ADT; 
    2. Selects “Out of home ongoing case” on the “Outcome” screen; 
    3. Selects the most appropriate, least restrictive placement type from the following options: 
      1. Non-custodial parent; 
      2. ​Relative placement; 
      3. DCBS resource home (refer to SOP 4.10 Placement in a DCBS Resource Home); 
      4. PCC foster home (refer to SOP 4.11 Private Child Placing (PCP) or Child Caring (PCC) Agency); 
      5. Residential placement; and 
      6. Out of state placement (relative, relative resource home, or residential placement) (refer to SOP 4.51 Out of State Placement); and 
    4. Prepares for the Five (5) Day Case Planning Conference as outlined in SOP 4.17 Preparation for and Five (5) Day Conference.

Footnotes

  1. The SSW completes Sections 1-5 of the ADT in order to compile all necessary information for the PDI report. The assessment should not be submitted or finalized in any way prior to attending court. Once the court hearing is complete, the SSW can then complete the rest of the assessment based on what the court finds. 
  2. The purpose of the PDI is to lead the disposition hearing so that appropriate services can be ordered for the status offender.

Documents

Revisions