The Aftercare Unit is committed to providing youths of the Juvenile Court furloughing from Kern County Probation Department custodial treatment programs with intensive supervision and referrals to community based educational and counseling programs in order to redirect delinquent behaviors. Youth are under commitment to these programs for one year, serving a portion of that time in custody and the remainder of the time on furlough release. These youth are composed primarily of those who, because of their level of delinquent behavior, require intensive supervision. Caseloads are typically comprised of probationers who may be criminal street gang members or gang affiliated violent offenders, habitual offenders, and substance abusers. The primary goal of the Aftercare Unit is to increase efforts towards successful transitions from custody to community; geared toward eliminating the youth’s criminal and delinquent behaviors that have been identified through evidence-based assessments. Officers will typically begin building rapport with youth during their commitment program. Officers participate in both the Review Board and Pre-Release meetings at all three facilities. These meetings give the Probation Officer an opportunity to have input on the services the youth will receive while in commitment and in designing an appropriate transition case plan for the youth as they re-enter our community. Upon release and once the initial case conference is completed and a case plan is formed, the Aftercare Officer will complete field calls at school and in the home in order to ensure compliance with both furlough terms and terms and conditions of probation. Aftercare Officers are also responsible for monitoring referrals made to community agencies and the documentation of all referrals to community resources, along with progress made, or lack thereof. Additionally, with the passing of Senate Bill 823, youth previously committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) since July 1, 2021, are now committed locally to the Achievement Perseverance Excellent (APEX) Academy. The Aftercare Unit will continue to supervise youth returning from DJJ until the closing, which is set for June 30, 2023, and will supervise youth released from APEX after their expected stay of one to seven years.

The Aftercare Unit provides intensive supervision of youth released from the Kern Crossroads Facility, Camp Erwin Owen, and Pathways Academy. The Aftercare Officers provide supervision to approximately 213 youth during the time they are on terms of conditional release. Additionally, the Aftercare Unit supervises youth under Juvenile Court jurisdiction who have returned to the community after completing a commitment to Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). Due to passing of Senate Bill 823 and no additional commitments starting in July, Aftercare Officers will supervise youth who will be committed to Kern County Probation Department’s Achievement Perseverance Excellence (APEX) Program. The Aftercare unit is also responsible for transporting high-risk youth that are in custody to medical appointments while a Juvenile Corrections Officer assigned to the unit is responsible for transporting low to moderate youth. Aftercare Officers also conduct home verifications and court notifications on behalf of the Investigation Units.