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Cowley County Youth Services (CCYS) is the criminal justice agency that provides programs and services for juveniles in the 19th Judicial District under the direction of the Kansas Juveniles Justice Reformation act of 1997. Our vision is “to provide evidence based programs and services for justice involved youth or youth identified to be at risk, to promote public safety, hold juveniles accountable and improve the ability of youth to live productively and responsibly in their communities.”

The statement of purpose of CCYS is to affirm that supervision programs provide necessary services to juveniles, with the goal of reducing the probability of their continued delinquent behavior, while also protecting the community and enhancing the juvenile’s ability to live responsibly and productively within their community. The statement of purpose, philosophy, and program affirms that all planning and decision-making are consistent with laws relevant to the state’s responsibility for the care and protection of juveniles under its control.

The Kansas Juvenile Justice Reform Act establishes what is now the Juvenile Services division of the Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC-JS) and gives powers and duties to the agency for the care, custody and control of juvenile offenders. Juvenile Justice Reform was focused on prevention, intervention, and community-based services, and that a youth should be placed in a juvenile correctional facility for rehabilitation and reform only as a last resort. Youth are more effectively rehabilitated and served in their own community. A major initiative of the juvenile justice reform act is based on the development of strong state and local partnerships. Because the KDOC-JS’s focus is to serve youth in their community, each receives state funding for the development, implementation, operation, and improvement of juvenile community correctional services. KDOC-JS allocates funds to the county governments in each district for the operation of community based Juvenile Justice Programs. Standards and procedures have been developed by KDOC-JS to provide guidance in the operation of these programs.