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Woodmansee keeps law-enforcement officers in the loop
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When the Juvenile Corrections Advisory Board asked Marissa Woodmansee to keep law-enforcement officers in the loop with new information, she didn’t hesitate to follow through.

As director of Juvenile Services, Woodmansee meets quarterly with officers to keep them up-to-date on youth-related programs and news from the Kansas Legislature. The most recent gathering was Jan. 31 in Russell County.

“I look at these meetings as refresher courses for law enforcement,” Woodmansee said. “The purpose is really two-fold. Yes, we want to provide updates on our programming and juvenile-related legislation.

“But we also want to be visible and accessible to law-enforcement officers throughout the 20th Judicial District. We collaborate on a regular basis and it is important we build a rapport with our partners.”

The JS programs on the agenda are Intake & Assessment; Immediate Intervention; Intensive Supervised Probation/Case Management; and Prevention Initiatives.

“We also cover relatively new services that include our Family Engagement Advocate, which brought us Parent Project, as well as our Program Advocate that helps with cognitive interventions.”

In the case of legislation, JS is implementing House Bill 2021, which went into effect last July in response to earlier legislation known as Senate Bill 367.

This Senate Bill’s intent is to ensure “the right population is going to detention. The recent House Bill is designed to re-invest in community-based supervision,” Woodmansee summarized.

At the recent Russell County meeting, 11 officers attended, representing the Russell County Sheriff’s Office, Russell Police Department, Hoisington Police Department and the Russell County Attorney’s Office.

Each class is open to all law-enforcement officers in the district, which includes Barton, Russell, Stafford, Ellsworth and Rice counties.

“The information we share is important to veteran officers, those who are new out of the Police Academy and everyone in between,” Woodmansee noted. “We regularly get favorable feedback from those who attend these refreshers.

“The officers appreciate being able to discuss their cases and ask questions about how JS decisions are made, especially with Intake & Assessment,” she added. “The more we understand each other, the better we can serve young people who need our help.”

20th Judicial District Juvenile Services empowers youth in Barton, Rice, Ellsworth, Stafford and Russell counties to achieve positive outcomes by offering Juvenile Intake & Assessment, Immediate Intervention, Intensive Supervised Probation, Case Management, Journey to Change, Life Skills, All Stars and Youth Crew. Parents and guardians also are offered The Parent Project. Visit 1800 12th in Great Bend or call 620-793-1930.