Fa m i l y Se r v i ce s W y om i n g De p a r t m e n t of

Wyoming Department of

Family Services

Wyoming’s Juvenile Justice System:

Through the Eyes of the Wyoming Department of

Family Services

Korin Schmidt, Director

Wyoming Department of Family Services

307-777-7564

Prepared for the Joint Judiciary Committee

June 2021

Table of Contents

WY Home Matters 2

Single Point of Entry 3

Secondary Prevention: Targeted Home &

Community-Based Services & Supports

5

Community Crisis Beds 6

Community Juvenile Services Boards (CJSB) 6

Juvenile Justice Diversion 7

Tertiary Prevention: Out-Of-Home &

Court-Ordered Services

8

Custody Status 8

Juvenile Probation 10

Independent Living 10

Juvenile and Family Court Supervised Treatment Programs (A.K.A. Drug Courts) 10

DFS Placement and Behavioral Health Continuum 11

DFS’ Youth Facilities 16

Juvenile Justice System: Misc. 18

DFS’ Juvenile Justice Data Collection 18

Historical Initiatives 19

Conclusion 20

Attachment A: CHINS and Juvenile Delinquency Data 21

Attachment B: Out-of-Home Placement Providers 25

Attachment C: Acronym Index 26

Department of Family Services | WY’s Juvenile Justice System: Through the Eyes of WY DFS | June 2021 1

WY HOME MATTERS

The Wyoming Department of Family Services (DFS) is guided by three values.

● Safe at Home - all children and adults deserve to live and be safe in their own homes.

● Opportunities for Success - all families deserve a fair chance at success. Our job is to

promote family strengths and to provide access to supports that allow families to stay

safely together.

● Supporting the People who Support the Families - our greatest resources are those

people serving families directly in their communities - our staff and our partners.

WY Home Matters is a system-wide vision to promote a prevention-oriented child and family

well-being system that empowers families to travel a path that is self-sustaining. DFS believes

these changes start at a local level and require strong partnerships across the prevention

continuum outlined in Figure 1. WY Home Matters emphasizes early intervention and

community-based services as a first line of intervention whenever possible, for all children,

youth, and families, regardless of how they come into contact with DFS.

Figure 1. The Child & Family Well-Being System

DFS programs engage families in a wide variety of settings along the prevention continuum to

keep families safe at home and provide opportunities for success. These engagements fall into

three categories of prevention services:

1) Primary Prevention: Community-based services

2) Secondary Prevention: Targeted home and community-based services and supports

3) Tertiary Prevention: Out-of-home and court-ordered services


SINGLE POINT OF ENTRY

Wyoming’s single point of entry was first created in 2009 with the passing of House Enrolled

Act 68. As juvenile crimes and citations do not have a primary court of jurisdiction in WY, there

was a lack of consistency as to which courts should handle juvenile citations. The single point of

entry statute attempts to remedy this by designating the prosecuting attorney in each

jurisdiction as the single point of entry for all juvenile citations, and gives the prosecuting

attorney discretion as to the most appropriate court to dispose of each juvenile citation.

The single point of entry can be a very effective tool used to divert children and youth away from

formal court involvement, while providing necessary programming and services to deter youth

from future Children in Need of Supervision (CHINS) and delinquent behavior. However, the

single point of entry is also the gateway into formal court involvement for children and youth.

The single point of entry is designed to provide guidance and aid prosecutors in determining

which court to file charges against a youth.

The single point of entry process developed in each jurisdiction varies greatly statewide, as does

the frequency and level of DFS involvement within local single point of entry mechanisms. The

single point of entry process is dictated by prosecutorial discretion and charging decisions are

many times based on available resources. Figure 2 is a map of Wyoming’ judicial districts.

Figure 2: Wyoming’s Judicial Districts


Table 1 illustrates which counties have single point of entry processes, DFS’ involvement in the

single point of entry, and resources counties have available when making charging decisions,

such as Community Juvenile Services Boards (CJSB), county probation, and diversion

programs.

Table 1: Juvenile Justice Processes and Resources by County

County

Judicial

District

Single point

of entry

DFS participates

in the single point

of entry CJSB

County

Probation Diversion

Albany 2 Yes Yes Yes No Yes

Big Horn 5 Yes Yes No No No

Campbell 6 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Carbon 2 Yes Yes Yes No Yes

Converse 8 No NA No No Yes

Crook 6 Yes Yes Yes No Yes

Fremont 9 Yes Yes Yes No Yes

Goshen 8 Yes Yes No No Yes

Hot Springs 5 Yes Yes No No No

Johnson 4 Yes Yes Yes No Yes

Laramie 1 Yes Yes Yes No Yes

Lincoln 3 Yes Yes Yes No Yes

Natrona 7 Yes Yes Yes No Yes

Niobrara 8 Yes Yes No No Yes

Park 5 Yes Yes No No Yes

Platte 8 Yes No No No No

Sheridan 4 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Sublette 9 Yes Yes No No Yes

Sweetwater 3 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Teton 9 Yes Yes Yes No Yes

Uinta 3 Yes Yes Yes No Yes

Washakie 5 Yes Yes Yes No Yes

Weston 6 Yes No No Yes Yes


SECONDARY PREVENTION:

TARGETED HOME AND COMMUNITY-BASED

SERVICES AND SUPPORTS

While the bulk of DFS’ agency-wide services are focused towards primary prevention for all1

children, youth, and families, DFS’ involvement with youth at risk of becoming involved in the

formal juvenile justice system begins within the scope of secondary prevention.

Secondary prevention is a collaboration between DFS and partner organizations such as law

enforcement agencies, schools, service providers, medical providers, and community groups.

DFS’ secondary prevention efforts focus on crisis stabilization and what is commonly viewed as

traditional diversion and prevention services. Targeted community-based services and supports

are more individualized and intensive as they are DFS’ last line of available resources to keep

children and families from entering the formal court system in which children and youth may be

removed from their homes.

The following are the types of families DFS works with in the secondary prevention realm:

1) Families which cause someone or an entity a concern regarding the safety and well-being

of children and they contact DFS. DFS investigates and finds indicators that children are

at risk of abuse or neglect.

2) Vulnerable adults who someone or some entity is concerned about their safety and

well-being and they contact DFS. DFS investigates and finds a vulnerable adult is at risk

of abuse, neglect, or exploitation.

3) Youth whose behavior is disruptive, defiant or out of control, or may lead to criminal

behavior. These youth have not yet been formally charged as a juvenile delinquent or had

a CHINS petition filed in court, but have behaviors that will lead to CHINS or

delinquency court involvement. This population is the focus of this juvenile justice

system report.

DFS’ role in secondary prevention for the juvenile justice population is somewhat limited and

revolves around community partnerships. Because the goal of secondary prevention is to keep

youth from formal court involvement, youth at this stage are not court ordered to receive DFS

services. Secondary prevention efforts include community crisis beds, CJSBs, and diversion

programs. Youth may be directed towards secondary prevention services by the single point of

entry process, as an alternative to filing charges against the youth in court.

1Under primary prevention, DFS funds community-based services to provide families short-term assistance with

basic needs necessary for family stability. Families receiving community-based services retain control of their

decisions and require very limited formal contact with DFS. Community-based services are the foundation of

ensuring safe homes for children and vulnerable adults.


COMMUNITY CRISIS BEDS

Community crisis beds exist to provide temporary, emergency stabilization services for children

and youth ages zero to 18 as a means to prevent removal from their home and to prevent further

penetration into the juvenile court system. Crisis beds can be utilized seven days a week for a

period not to exceed 30 days. Children and youth can access crisis bed services by self or family

referral, through medical and mental health professionals, law enforcement, DFS referral, or

school staff.

14 private entities operate 81 total crisis beds across Wyoming. DFS uses Temporary Assistance2

for Needy Families (TANF) and state general funds to purchase crisis services for approximately

1,000 children per year at a daily rate of $117 per bed whether the bed is occupied or vacant.

COMMUNITY JUVENILE SERVICES BOARDS (CJSB)

CJSBs allow communities, either through county commissioners or the establishment of a joint

powers board, to individualize and manage services and resources to divert youth and families

away from the formal juvenile justice system within each participating community. There are

currently 14 CJSBs across Wyoming with varying programs and approaches. Resources and

services include but are not limited to counseling, tutoring, mentorship programs, community

service, time out in a community crisis bed, and informal supervision. Table 1, on page 4,

identifies counties with CJSBs.

DFS state general funds for CJSBs are being eliminated beginning July 1, 2021 as a result of the

required budget reductions. However, CJSBs have statutory authority to remain operational

without DFS funding and many intend to do so after July 1, 2021.

CJSB History

The Community Juvenile Services Act, W.S. §§ 14-9-101 through 14-9-108, was passed in 1997

and created a Community Juvenile Services Block Grant pilot project to be conducted during the

period beginning July 1, 1997 and ending June 30, 1999. House Bill 0031 of the 1998 legislative

session extended the pilot project time period from July 1, 1997, through June 30, 2000. No

appropriation was made, rather the Governor was given the authority to move up to $5 million

to fund the pilot program. The amount of block grant funding distributed during the pilot

project is unknown.

The Community Juvenile Services Act remained in statute, and was amended in the 2008

legislative session through Senate File 0066, Senate Enrolled Act 0030. Senate Enrolled Act

0030 added additional requirements for CJSB member composition, juvenile justice system

development, including a single point of entry, and required payments to be made cooperatively

by DFS, the Wyoming Department of Health (WDH), and the Wyoming Department of

Education (WDE).

2This includes three beds located on the Wind River Reservation.


Pursuant to Senate Enrolled Act 0030, DFS worked with counties to form CJSBs beginning in

the 2009 through 2010 fiscal biennium. $2 million per biennium was allocated in DFS’ budget

for CJSBs from BFYs 2009 through state fiscal year (SFY) 2016. The SFY 2017 supplemental

budget reduced CJSB funding from $2 million per biennium to $1,099,611 per biennium.

JUVENILE JUSTICE DIVERSION

Juvenile justice diversion is an intervention and approach used to hold youth accountable for

their actions while redirecting the youth away from the formal court system. The term “juvenile

diversion” in Wyoming refers to two separate but similar conditions that are used

interchangeably:

(1) A single or multiple service, program, tool, or resource used prior to court involvement

with the intent of addressing the youth’s behavior and eliminating the need for court

involvement; and

(2) A formal program that combines and coordinates services, tools, and resources together

to address the youth’s behavior and eliminating the need for court involvement.

Services and resources available to divert youth away from the formal court system, and the

approach for accessing and using diversion resources and services, vary across the state. All of

Wyoming’s 14 counties with CJSBs have established formal juvenile diversion programs, as do

other jurisdictions. Table 1 on page 4 identifies counties with juvenile diversion programs

and/or services.

Remainder of page intentionally left blank


TERTIARY PREVENTION: OUT-OF-HOME

AND COURT-ORDERED SERVICES

While DFS’ engagement with families is very broad and begins as early as primary prevention

with community-based services, when people think about DFS custody, the child protection

system, and the juvenile justice system, they generally think about what occurs in DFS’ tertiary

prevention services, with children and youth being taken into custody and removed from their

homes.

DFS’ tertiary prevention services are triggered by formal court involvement when a child is taken

into legal custody, an abuse or neglect petition against a parent or caretaker is filed in juvenile

court, or a CHINS or delinquency petition is filed against the juvenile in juvenile court.

DFS does not have an actual “juvenile justice system” that exists outside of child protection

(CPS) and adult protection services (APS). From DFS’ perspective, juvenile justice-involved

youth and children in the child protection system are a single cohort of children and youth with

various ways to enter the same system of care. Once entered into the system of care, children

and youth are eligible for the same services.

CUSTODY STATUS

When a child is court-ordered into DFS custody, DFS assumes the care and supervision of the

child and works with the multidisciplinary team (MDT) to make recommendations to the court

regarding placement decisions. All placement decisions are ultimately made by the court. Under

Title 14 of the Wyoming Statutes, there are three ‘doors’ by which a child may be placed into

DFS custody.

1) Child Protection Act : Allegations of child abuse or neglect are brought to the juvenile3

court by the prosecuting attorney’s office filing a petition alleging that a child or youth is

at risk of or has been abused or neglected, and when the action is necessary to protect the

interest of the child.

a) Abuse is defined as “inflicting or causing physical or mental injury, harm or

imminent danger to the physical or mental health or welfare of a child other than

by accidental means”, including:

i) Abandonment,

ii) Excessive or unreasonable corporal punishment,

iii) Malnutrition or substantial risk of malnutrition by intentional or

unintentional neglect, and

iv) Commission of or allowing the commission of a sexual offense against a

child.4

4W.S. § 14-3-202(a)(ii).

3W.S. §§ 14-3-401 through 14-3-441.


b) Neglect is the “failure or refusal by those responsible for the child’s welfare to

provide adequate care, maintenance, supervision, education or medical, surgical

or any other care necessary for the child’s well being.”5

2) Children in Need of Supervision Act : Complaints alleging CHINS are referred to the6

prosecuting attorney’s office, which determines whether judicial action is necessary to

protect the interest of the child. CHINS are brought by the prosecuting attorney’s office

through the filing of a CHINS petition with the juvenile court.

a) CHINS are children or youth who are “habitually truant”, disobedient, or

“ungovernable and beyond control”, but whose infractions do not rise to the level

of breaking the law.7

3) Juvenile Justice Act and Juvenile Probation : The prosecuting attorney’s office is the8 9

single point of entry for all minors alleged to have committed a crime and determines

whether to file a delinquency petition, and in which court. Delinquency petitions are filed

when the action is necessary to protect the interest of the public or the child. The court

may order a delinquent child to probation through DFS, a city, a county, or private

organization. DFS therefore is not the probation entity for all juvenile delinquents, only

those court ordered to DFS probation.

a) A juvenile delinquent is a child who commits a crime, contempt of court, or

violates a court order which resulted from the criminal conviction of the child.

Children may transition between these three involvement statuses, or exit the system and

re-enter through another door. Table 2 summarizes the entry points into state custody.

Table 2. Three “Doors” to State Custody

Child

Protection

CHINS Juvenile Justice /

Probation

In DFS custody? Maybe (prevention

cases are voluntary)

Yes Yes

Eligible for Wyoming Girls’ School

(WGS)/

Wyoming Boys’ School (WBS)?

No No Yes

Medicaid pay source?10

Yes (except

prevention cases)

Yes Yes (100% SGF if in a

detention facility)

Maximum age for DFS service 21 years 18 years 21 years

10All children in the custody of DFS are automatically eligible for Medicaid coverage under the federal Foster Care

eligibility program. Some children in DFS custody are enrolled in private insurance or other Medicaid eligibility

programs, such as the Children’s Mental Health Waiver, or the Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waiver.

9W.S. §§ 14-6-301 through 14-6-314.

8W.S. §§ 146-201 through 14-6-252.

7W.S. § 14-6-402(a)(iv).

6W.S. §§ 14-6-401 through 14-6-440.

5W.S. § 14-3-202(a)(vii).


JUVENILE PROBATION

DFS provides regular probation and intensive supervised probation (ISP) services and

supervision to youth adjudicated as juvenile delinquents, and ordered to DFS probation by a

juvenile court judge. Some local DFS offices have specialized juvenile justice or probation

workers, but in many of DFS’ smaller offices, these juvenile justice cases are handled by the

same staff that support CPS and APS. DFS probation workers focus on early assessment and

identification of treatment needs of the youth, and timely referrals for treatment as a way to

keep probation youth in their home school districts and prevent out-of-home placement.

When a youth on probation with DFS is placed out of the home by court order, DFS provides

case planning, implementation, compliance, and monitoring. These case plans focus on

permanency of the youth, specifically reunification of the youth with the family or a return of the

youth to the community.

In SFY 2020, DFS served a total of 1,470 youth and their families through traditional probation

and ISP. While historically probation services focused on the youth’s behavior, DFS’ probation

services involve a family-centered model to keep the youth in his or her community, and when

that isn’t successful, to achieve family reunification in a timely manner. Note that not all

juvenile probation cases are assigned to DFS; Campbell County and Sweetwater County run

their own probation programs.

CHINS Supervision and Case Management

Many CHINS petitions are filed on children and youth as a way to access higher levels of mental

health care through DFS, making the CHINS population distinctly different from the juvenile

delinquency population. Even so, CHINS youth are supervised by DFS under the same policies

and procedures as all other youth.

INDEPENDENT LIVING

DFS contracts with community providers to provide Independent Living (IL) services to assist

current and former foster care youth in achieving self-sufficiency. Youth ages 14 and older who

have been in foster care are eligible, regardless of whether they were abused, neglected, or a

CHINS or juvenile delinquent. IL services prepare youth to exit, and avoid returning to the

State’s system of care.

JUVENILE AND FAMILY COURT SUPERVISED TREATMENT

PROGRAMS (A.K.A. DRUG COURTS)

Wyoming Court Supervised Treatment Programs (drug courts) are funded through the WDH

and operated through local court jurisdictions. Drug courts focus on breaking the cycle of

substance abuse and the reduction of crimes stemming from substance abuse. DFS is involved in

varying ways with each juvenile drug court.


Table 3: Wyoming Juvenile Drug Courts

County Program DFS Involvement

Albany Albany County Court Supervised

Treatment Program

DFS is on the court team and

provides supervision for each youth

Campbell Campbell County Juvenile &

Family Drug Court

DFS is on the court team and the

overseeing Board

Fremont Fremont County Juvenile

Treatment Court

DFS involvement is limited to

children/youth in DFS care

Sheridan Sheridan County Juvenile Drug

Court

DFS provides supervision to youth

ordered to participate through the

Juvenile Court.

Sweetwater Sweetwater County Treatment

Court Foundation

DFS is on the court team

Teton Teton County Court Supervised

Treatment Program

DFS involvement is limited to

children/youth in DFS care

DFS PLACEMENT AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CONTINUUM

Behavioral health services available to all children and youth in DFS custody fall along a

continuum of severity of need and restrictiveness of the service or placement. The behavioral

health population is not uniform; within this population there exists a wide variety of needs that

vary by age, diagnosis, and treatment needs. Children and youth may have suffered multiple

traumas in childhood and have co-occurring substance use, intellectual disabilities, or

developmental disabilities along with a behavioral health diagnosis. Within a single placement

type, such as psychiatric residential treatment facilities (PRTFs), providers may serve distinct

populations based on diagnosis and available programming.

Services are classified into three settings: outpatient, residential, and inpatient, based on the

restrictiveness of the location.

● Outpatient settings include those where the child or youth remains at home, in family

foster care, or under a guardianship, and continues to attend their home school district

while receiving mental health or substance abuse services, which may include adolescent

intensive outpatient programming (AIOP), drug court, and day treatment programming;

● Residential settings include those where the child lives on-campus and attends

on-campus classes while receiving mental health or substance abuse services; and

● Inpatient settings are the most restrictive and clinical in nature.

Services are also classified into four types: educational, behavioral, clinical, and correctional,

based on the primary goal of placement.


● Educational placements are primarily to support the child’s continued educational

progress through an alternative educational setting;

● Behavioral settings are primarily to address behavioral issues interfering not only with

the child’s education, but also their ability to function at home and in the community;

● Clinical settings generally require a clinical diagnosis and treatment for significant

psychiatric instability; and,

● Correctional facilities are primarily to address delinquent behavior. These facilities

include juvenile detention centers, the Wyoming Boys’ School (WBS), and the Wyoming

Girls’ School (WGS). Juvenile detention centers are not therapeutic; however they often

serve as the juvenile behavioral health safety net for clients for whom no other safe

placement can be found. By statute, the WGS and WBS are correctional in nature;

however, they offer more therapeutic programming than detention centers.

Table 4 summarizes the various behavioral, clinical, and correctional services in which children

and youth with behavioral health needs are placed.

Table 4. Behavioral Health Services

Service Setting Service

Type

Description Admission

Criteria

Mental

health &

substance

abuse

services

Outpatient Behavioral /

Clinical

Therapies provided on an

outpatient basis; may include

AIOP, drug court, and day

treatment programming

N/A

Crisis

stabilization

services

(crisis beds)

Residential Behavioral/

Clinical

Short-term, overnight services

to de-escalate mental health

crisis

Voluntary

Board of

Cooperative

Educational

Services

(BOCES)

Outpatient/

Residential

Behavioral /

Educational/

Clinical

Residential program for

students with behaviors and

qualifying educational support

needs

Court-ordered

or school

district

referral

Group homes Residential Behavioral Home like group setting for

children with emotional,

social, physical, and/or

behavioral needs, who do not

require a more restrictive

facility for their own

protection or that of others

Court-ordered

or private pay

Residential Residential Behavioral / Service for children who Court-ordered


treatment

centers

(RTC)

Clinical require a combination of

therapeutic, education, and

treatment services in a

residential group care setting

or private pay

Acute

psychiatric

stabilization

Inpatient Clinical Inpatient hospital psychiatric

stabilization and medication

management

Medical

Psychiatric

residential

treatment

facility

(PRTF)

Inpatient /

Residential

Clinical Inpatient psychiatric

treatment facility that meets

criteria for reimbursement as a

medical service by Medicaid

Medical /

Psychiatric

evaluation

Juvenile

detention

center (JDC)

Residential Correctional County facilities for minors

who have been adjudicated

juvenile delinquents or are

awaiting trial

Court-ordered

Wyoming

Girls’ School

(WGS)

Residential Correctional State facility for female minors

adjudicated as juvenile

delinquents under Title 14

Court-ordered

Wyoming

Boys’ School

(WBS)

Residential Correctional State facility for male minors

adjudicated as juvenile

delinquents under Title 14

Court-ordered

Figure 3 shows the number of Wyoming CHINS and juvenile delinquents placed outside of the

home between Federal Fiscal Years (FFY) 2017 and 2020. See Attachment A for a breakdown of

placement settings. See Attachment B for a map of placement providers.

Figure 3: Total CHINS and Juvenile Delinquent Placements; FFYs 2017 through FFY 2020


Funding for Out-of-Home Placements and Behavioral Health Treatment Services

Children and youth may be court ordered to placement for reasons other than behavioral health

needs, including placement for safety of the child or youth, and placement for public safety

reasons. Children and youth should be placed in the least restrictive setting to meet their needs,

and a family home setting is preferred. Family home settings include family foster care (with

family members or non-family members), guardianships, and pre-adoptive and adoptive homes.

When family home settings aren’t appropriate or available, children and youth may be placed in

residential, congregate care settings. In residential service settings, children and youth receive,

and providers may bill, for three separate services: room and board, active treatment, and

educational services. Availability of funds for each of these services varies with the child or

youth’s insurance type, custody status, and education status. The court-ordered placements

statute, or “COPS”, at W.S. § 21-13-315 directs DFS to pay for room and board and WDE to pay

for educational services for children court-ordered to a private residential treatment facility,

group home, day treatment program, or juvenile detention facility. W.S. § 21-13- 336 directs

WDE to pay for educational costs for Medicaid-covered children with a medically necessary

placement in a PRTF.

DFS uses a variety of funding sources to provide services to children, youth, and families. 65%

of the social services budget is state general funds. The remaining 35% is funded with federal

grants and funding streams such as Title IV-E funds and TANF which can only be used if the

family meets the income and program eligibility requirements.



Table 5. DFS’ Out-of-Home Placement Payment Rates

Facility

Type

Rate Prior to 7/1/21 Rate Beginning 7/1/2111

Payment

Mechanism

Family foster

home

$645 per month, children 0-5






Rate is per month,

per child

Guardianship $0 to $340 base, per month

+tiered amount based on level

of need

$0 to $330 base, per month


of need

Negotiated based

on level of need

Adoption

Subsidy



of need



of need

Negotiated based

on level of need

Crisis beds $117 per day per bed;

81 total beds

Same Paid regardless of

occupancy or

vacancy

Group home $141 per day $137 per day Paid regardless of

occupancy or

vacancy

RTC / BOCES $175 per day through day 270;

$131 per day thereafter

$170 per day through day 270;

$127 per day thereafter

Paid only when

occupied

PRTF N/A N/A Paid by Medicaid

JDC Campbell County - $75 per day

Laramie County - $195 per day

Sweetwater County - $195 per

day

Same Paid only when

occupied


11Rate reductions are a result of a 3% reduction in out-of-home placement appropriations in DFS’ SFY 2022 budget.

New rates begin July 1, 2021, and are ongoing.


Table 6: DFS’ Annual Expenditures for Out-of-Home Placements12 13

Service Category SFY 2017 SFY 2018 SFY 2019 SFY 2020

Family Foster Care $5.1M $5.3M $5M $4.6M

Children served 962 1,025 1,013 967

Guardianship Subsidy $663K $697K $765K $809K

Children served 153 150 161 191

Adoption Subsidy $3.5M $3.6M $3.6M $3.7M


Congregate Care14

$10M $9.5M $8.7M $8.1M


Grand Total $19.3M $19M $18.1M $17.2M

See Attachment A for additional out-of-home placement and expenditure data specific to CHINS

and juvenile delinquents.

DFS’ YOUTH FACILITIES

DFS operates WBS and WGS. In order to be placed at either facility, youth who commit a

delinquent act must be charged by the district or county attorney then placed in DFS custody

and ordered to WBS or WGS for an indefinite period of time by the presiding judge. These

charging and placement decisions are based on prosecutorial and judicial discretion, and are not

decisions made by DFS. While some youth are ordered to WBS and WGS based on the youth’s

initial delinquent offense, the majority of youth are ordered to these facilities based upon

continual violations of the youth’s probation terms. Wyoming statute requires a youth to be

adjudicated delinquent in order to be placed at WBS and WGS, however, both facilities have had

CHINS youth ordered to WBS and WGS due to the youth violating their CHINS order; thus

changing a CHINS to a juvenile delinquency based on violation of a court order.

Wyoming Boys’ School (WBS)

WBS is a 38 acre facility in Worland, Wyoming that provides public safety and care for

adjudicated delinquent male youth, ages 12 to 21. WBS is an accredited educational and

rehabilitative facility designed to treat and improve outcomes for at-risk boys in a safe,

supportive, and healthy environment. WBS administers programs that promote public safety by

providing supervision and family centered therapeutic services, physical and mental health

programming, and education services. Eligible students have the opportunity to obtain a high

14Congregate care is a non-family like setting, and includes crisis centers, group homes, RTCs, PRTFs, WBS, WGS,

detention, jail, hospitals, and the WY State Hospital.

13Placements and children served include child protection cases, CHINS, and juvenile delinquents.

12Dollars have been rounded.


school diploma or high school equivalency certificate. WBS also contracts with local providers

and others for physician services, barber, and other special education services that are provided

on site. 94 full-time WBS staff serve approximately 270 youth on a biennial basis, and the

average length of stay is 7.5 months.

The WBS is funded with state general funds. As part of the budget reductions in SFY 2021,

WBS’s Medicaid funds for mental health services were decreased by $300,000 on an ongoing15

basis. Additional reductions resulted in the closure of one WBS dormitory, capping the WBS

daily capacity at 60 residents. The reduction in capacity may require county attorneys, judges,

and multi-disciplinary teams (MDT) to consider less-restrictive alternatives to WBS when

making placement and treatment decisions for male youth. Overall, the WBS biennial budget is

now $15,856,908 which reflects a reduction of $1,820,992.

Wyoming Girls’ School (WGS)

WGS is a 98 acre facility in Sheridan, Wyoming that provides public safety and care for

adjudicated delinquent female youth, ages 12 to 21. WGS is an accredited educational and

rehabilitative facility designed to treat and improve outcomes for at-risk girls in a safe,

supportive, and trauma responsive environment. WGS administers programs that promote

public safety by providing supervision and family centered, trauma responsive therapeutic

services, physical and mental health programming, and education services. Eligible students

have the opportunity to obtain a high school diploma or high school equivalency certificate.

WGS also collaborates with local providers and others for physician services and other special

education services that are provided on site. 77 full-time employees serve approximately 140

youth on a biennial basis, with an average length of stay of 8.9 months.

Like the WBS, the WGS is funded with state general funds and as part of the budget reductions

in 2021, the WGS closed one dormitory, decreasing the daily capacity from 64 to 40 residents.

This will have minimal impact as WGS’ ongoing daily census averages 31 residents. Overall, the

WGS biennial budget is now $9,779,390 which reflects a reduction of $2,851,747.


15This reduction is reflected in the WDH budget. Medical services provided at WBS are not federally reimbursable,

and are therefore paid through 100% state general fund Medicaid dollars.


JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM: MISC.

DFS’ JUVENILE JUSTICE DATA COLLECTION

One of the shortfalls of Wyoming’s juvenile justice system is the lack of consistent and

comparable data across agencies and organizations. In order to identify gaps in Wyoming’s

juvenile justice system and areas of improvement, quality data must be accessible and accurate.

DFS currently compiles and reports data on DFS’ juvenile justice population in a couple

different ways and for different purposes, and additionally uses data gathered by other entities.

Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) Data

The Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) collects case-level

information from state and tribal Title IV-E agencies on all children in foster care and those who

have been adopted with Title IV-E agency involvement. DFS is a IV-E agency.

Data reported in AFCARS includes demographic information on the foster child, the number of

removal from home episodes a child or youth has experienced, and the current placement

setting. AFCARS only reports on juvenile justice-involved youth if the youth is or has been in

foster care, such as a relative or non-relative foster home, RTC, or group home. Detention, WBS,

and WGS are not considered foster care placements under IV-E.

National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) Data

The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) is a data collection system that

gathers information about reports of child abuse and neglect. NCANDS only reports data on

juvenile justice-involved youth if the youth is or has been involved in a child protection case.

Wyoming Children’s Assistance and Protection System (WYCAPS)

The Wyoming Children’s Assistance and Protection System (WYCAPS) is DFS’ Statewide

Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) and is used for DFS’ day to day case

management of CPS, APS, and juvenile justice cases. All of DFS’ juvenile justice cases are

entered into WYCAPS.

WYCAPS also acts as DFS’ vendor payment system for services provided to children, youth, and

families with cases contained within WYCAPS. DFS expenditures for out-of-home placements of

children and youth in DFS care are calculated and reported from WYCAPS data.

Results-Oriented Management (ROM)

In the early 2000’s W.S. § 7-19-502 was created, tasking the Division of Criminal Investigation

(DCI) with the creation and maintenance of a juvenile justice information system. Due to budget

constraints, DCI did not complete the data system. In late 2014 then-Governor Mead allotted

$500,000 to the State Advisory Council on Juvenile Justice (SACJJ) to research and formulate a

juvenile justice data collection system. In April 2015, a system was discovered with the


University of Kansas called Results-Oriented Management (ROM). In May 2015, the SACJJ

voted to move forward with implementing the ROM system, with an estimated price tag of

approximately $140,000 to $160,000. In late 2015, crucial data points to be collected within

ROM were identified by DFS, and CJSBs began reporting those data points.

Currently the SACJJ collects data contained within the ROM. Specific data points included:

● Respective county

● Date of birth

● Sex

● Race

● Most serious presenting offense category (i.e. Alcohol Offense, Property Offense, etc.)

● Specific offense

● Secondary offense(s) if applicable

● Date of arrest/citation/summons

● Respective court

● If diversion was offered

● If pre-adjudication detention occurred

● Disposition(s)

● Other Disposition(s)

● Date of Disposition

HISTORICAL INITIATIVES

In 2010, DFS partnered with the Annie E. Casey Foundation to take part in the Juvenile

Detention Alternatives Initiative, commonly known as JDAI. JDAI promotes a data-driven,

problem-solving approach through a series of tools and core strategies that target

overrepresentation of youth of color in the justice system; youth, family and community

engagement; and community-based alternatives to confinement.

Wyoming’s five counties with juvenile detention centers became JDAI sites shortly after DFS’

initiative roll-out:

● Campbell County

● Fremont County

● Laramie County

● Natrona County

● Sweetwater County

Up until SFY2016, each JDAI participant county’s CJSB received an additional $30,000 in state

general funds to aid in the implementation of JDAI strategies.

In 2014 Natrona County withdrew from being a JDAI site, and in the same year Wyoming

decided to oversee JDAI independently without the assistance of the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Today, Campbell, Fremont, Laramie, and Sweetwater counties continue to implement JDAI best

practices for juvenile detention and confinement.


CONCLUSION

DFS engages with children and families at a multitude of contact points, each time offering

services and programs to prevent children, youth, and families from moving farther along DFS’

continuum of services and reaching court-ordered services or out-of-home placement. If

court-ordered services or out-of-home placement become necessary, DFS utilizes tools to

achieve a timely and safe family reunification.

Unfortunately, while court-involved children, youth, and families are a small portion of the

population DFS engages with, this population’s court-ordered services and out-of-home

placements absorb the bulk of DFS’ budget. Not only do early prevention and targeted

prevention services cost less than court-ordered services and placements, children, youth, and

families have better outcomes when children and youth are served at home and when removal is

prevented. While DFS primarily serves juvenile justice-involved youth through secondary and

tertiary prevention, more targeted services earlier in the continuum would help to reduce the

costly and at times unnecessary CHINS and delinquency population.

WY Home Matters envisions a child, youth, and family well-being system where more children,

youth, and families are served through primary and secondary prevention, rather than more

costly, and more traumatic, tertiary prevention services.


ATTACHMENT A:

Children in Need of Supervision (CHINS) and

Juvenile Delinquency Data

Table 7: Total CHINS Placements by Placement Type; FFYs 2017-2020 ,1 2

Table 8: DFS Expenditures for CHINS Placements; Federal Fiscal Years (FFY) 2017-20203

3Excludes Tribal data.


1Placement settings with 4 or less placement episodes are reported as <5.

Department of Family Services | WY’s Juvenile Justice System: Through the Eyes of WY DFS - Attachment A | June 2021 21

Table 9: CHINS Placements by County; FFYs 2017 through 2020 ,4 5

Table 10: DFS CHINS Expenditures by County; FFYs 2017-20206



4Counties with 4 or less placements are reported as <5.


Table 11: Total Delinquency Placements by Placement Type; FFYs 2017-2020 ,7 8

Table 12: DFS Expenditures for Delinquency Placements; FFYs 2017-20209



7Placement settings with 4 or less placement episodes are reported as <5.


Table 13: Delinquency Placements by County; FFYs 2017 through 2020 ,10 11

Table 14: DFS Delinquency Expenditures by County; FFYs 2017-202012



10Counties with 4 or less placements are reported as <5.


ATTACHMENT B:

Out-of-Home Placement Providers

Department of Family Services | WY’s Juvenile Justice System: Through the Eyes of WY DFS - Attachment B | June 2021 25

ATTACHMENT C:

Acronym Index

Acronym Expansion

AFCARS Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System

AIOP Adolescent Intensive Outpatient Programming

APS Adult Protection Services

BFY Budget Fiscal Year

BOCES Board of Cooperative Educational Services

CHINS Children in Need of Supervision

CJSB Community Juvenile Services Boards

COPS Court-Ordered Placements

CPS Child Protective Services

DFS Department of Family Services

FFY Federal Fiscal Year

HCBS Home and Community-Based Services

IL Independent Living

ISP Intensive Supervised Probation

JDAI Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative

JDC Juvenile Detention Center

MDT Multidisciplinary Team

NCANDS National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System

PRTF Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities

ROM Results-Oriented Management

RTC Residential Treatment Center

SACJJ State Advisory Council on Juvenile Justice

SACWIS Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System

SFY State Fiscal Year

TANF Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

WBS Wyoming Boys’ School

WDE Wyoming Department of Education

WDH Wyoming Department of Health

WGS Wyoming Girls’ School

WYCAPS Wyoming Children’s Assistance and Protection System

Department of Family Services | WY’s Juvenile Justice System: Through the Eyes of WY DFS - Attachment C | June 2021 26

Documents

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