Division of Youth Services

Community Services Programs and Services

The primary goals of Community Services are:

• To ensure a balanced approach of accountability, competency development and community safety in providing quality services that address the needs of clients, individual victims and the community
• To test the effectiveness of community-based programs on reducing commitments to the state training school and caseload reduction
• To establish multi-agency, cooperative partnerships with local communities
• To establish uniformity in DYS services, case management practices and procedures

Probation and After Care Services are provided to juveniles referred to the Youth Courts in Mississippi. Individual, group and family counseling, intake, pre-court investigation, case management and referral and placement services are some of the services provided by Youth Services Counselors

Adolescent Offender Program (AOP)

The AOP is a community-based partnership among the Mississippi Department of Human Services/Division of Youth Services, mental health agencies, community agencies and local multi-agency councils. The AOP provides a mechanism within communities to coordinate services, share resources and reduce the number of young offenders being placed in state custody.

Program Goals - The program, which focuses on the family, seeks to assist local communities in coordinating and providing services to at-risk families. Its purpose is to decrease criminal activity, improve school attendance and performance, and inspire adolescents to be more positive, goal-oriented individuals.

The program is designed to provide treatment within a therapeutic setting and a safe controlled environment in which counselors teach the adolescents how to develop social skills, interpersonal relationship skills, self-control, and insight.

Services - Each program offers services primarily to non-Medicaid and non-billed Medicaid clients. These services are also available to Medicaid-eligible clients. A total of 1,819 clients have recieved services through eighty-two (82) AOP sites.

Within the existing programs, DYS provides the Responsible Fatherhood Program Training, Healthy Marriage Program Training, Evidence-Based Practices, Fast ForWord Reading Program Pilots and Investment in Excellence for Youth Pilots.

According to social learning theory, the closer the treatment provided is to the environment in which the youth normally functions, the more effective treatment will be. AOP is bringing treatment closer to the environment and the family.

Contact Information

Mississippi Department of Human Services
Division of Youth Services
(601) 359-4972 | 1-866-312-7215