Instructions for Use of the Juvenile Case Plan Template

Applicable Standards

Texas Administrative Code (TAC), Title 37, Part 11, Chapter 341 (General Standards for Juvenile Probation Departments), Subchapter A (Definitions and General Provisions) and Subchapter E (Case Management)
Effective Date: January 1, 2017

Purpose and Scope of the Template

The Texas Juvenile Justice Department’s (TJJD’s) Juvenile Case Plan template is a non-mandatory form intended to assist local juvenile probation departments in developing department-specific case plans.Use of this template is voluntary. TJJD has no formal requirements or informal expectations that a department adopt this sample document.
While this Juvenile Case Plan template allows departments to capture some of the information and/or activity required by TJJD’s standards, it is important to recognize that the template is limited in its ability to ensure compliance with all of the applicable standards in TAC Chapter 341. These template limitations are inherent because of the amount of department-specific flexibility that was intentionally incorporated into TAC Chapter 341’s case management standards. Departments may modify this template in any way needed to support local case management policies and procedures.
While this Juvenile Case Plan template was designed to assist a department in capturing case management information and activities that are required by TAC Chapter 341, it is important to note that TJJD is not presenting this document as a model case plan document or case management tool.
Relevant TAC Definitions
For definitions of certain terms used in these instructions or in the Juvenile Case Plan template, please see 37 TAC §341.100.
Contents of the Template
Document Title / A department may modify the title of the document in any way, such as by adding departmental or internal division identifiers, etc. The inclusion of “Juvenile Case Plan”as the title in the sample document simply approximates the language in the standards. None of the information in this section has implications for TAC Chapter 341compliance.
Juvenile’s Name / A space for the juvenile’s name is provided within the header of the document, although a department may decide to move or add the name to other locations within the document.
General Information / This section of the sample document is entirely optional. Therefore, what can and should be included within this section, if anything, will be entirely a matter of local discretion. Examples of information that may be added here include additional information about the juvenile (e.g., PID #, dateofbirth, contact information, school information, etc.), disposition information (e.g., date, court, etc.), contact information for the parent/guardian/custodian, or other similar information.
This section will not have implications for TAC Chapter 341 compliance unless a department elects to include information required by that chapter.
Criminogenic Needs and Related Requirements / TAC §341.506(c)(1) requires that a case plan must address the relevant criminogenic need(s) as determined by the department. There are two examples of needs (i.e., substance abuse and family services) provided on the template. These are examples onlyand should be modified or removed when developing a department-specific format and/ora juvenile-specific case plan.The actual number and type of criminogenic needs for any given case plan should be determined by:
  • a department’s case management policies and procedures (see §341.504);
  • the results of the department’s completed risk and needs assessment instrument (e.g., TJJD Risk and Needs Assessment, Positive Achievement Change Tool, Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory™, etc.); and
  • the juvenile probation officer’s professional judgment.
TAC §341.506(c)(2)(A) requires that each individual criminogenic need identified in a juvenile’s case must be accompanied by at least one goal. Additionally, TAC §341.506(c)(2)(B) requires that each identified goal must also include one or more corresponding action steps, the person(s) responsible for completing the action step(s), the time frame for completing the action step(s), and the status of each goal.
Community Services for Juvenile and Parent/Guardian/Custodian / TAC §341.506(c)(3) requires that a case plan must identify relevant community services for the juvenile and the juvenile’s parent(s), guardian, or custodian to access while the juvenile is under supervision and after supervision ends. There are no requirements in TAC Chapter 341 that denote how many services must be identified or even if a single service must be listed. Therefore, the services determined to be relevant, if any, will be a matter guided by a department’s case management policies and procedures and/or the case manager’s professional judgment. However, because Chapter 341 requires this component to be assessed within a case plan, an appropriately identified field must be included within the department’s final case plan to allow for this information to be included.
Residential Placement Information / TAC §341.506(c)(4) requires that when the juvenile named in the case plan is residing in a residential facility, the case plan must identify the facility (or home if in foster care or other like settings) and phone number. At a department’s discretion, these two pieces of required information could be supplemented by additional information that a department determines may be helpful for the supervising probation officer and/or the juvenile’s parent/guardian/custodian. This type of discretionary information could include the facility’s addresses (e.g., physical and mailing if different), specific contact staff (e.g., facility case manager, etc.), visitation information, or other similar information.
Level of Supervision / This section is intended to identify the type (e.g., office visit, home visit, etc.) and the frequency (e.g., schedule, time(s), etc.) of supervision contacts between the juvenile and his or her juvenile probation officer as required by TAC §341.506(c)(5). Additionally, per the requirements of TAC §341.504(2), a minimum of one monthly face-to-face contact is mandatory unless an alternate (i.e., non-face-to-face) or less frequent level of supervision is identified within the case plan. While the term “level of supervision” is general enough to have additional meanings within a department (e.g., probation, intensive supervision, high/medium/low, etc.), for the purpose of TAC Chapter 341 case plan rules, this term is intended to denote client contact requirements.
Signatures / TAC §341.506(b)(2) requires that a case plan must be signed by a juvenile probation officer, the juvenile, and the juvenile’s parent, guardian, or custodian. If the signature for any required party cannot be secured, there must be a written explanation as to the reason(s) why the signature is missing. A department may elect to document this explanation within the body of its case plan. However, compliance may also be achieved by including this information in an ancillary form of documentation.
Additional Guidance and Technical Assistance
Department staff are encouraged to contact a representative of TJJD’s Monitoring and Inspections Division with any questions about TAC Chapter 341 requirements and/or the guidance in this instruction document.

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