As a court department, Adult Probation and Parole Services (APPS) supervises, counsels and refers to treatment those individuals sentenced to County probation, parole, or to the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) Program. Defendants at least eighteen years of age or those who were direct filed or certified and transferred from Juvenile Court are also processed by APPS. The department also has the responsibility to fingerprint and photograph all individuals convicted in the Court and maintain criminal history of all convictions.
APPS staffing consists of approximately 100 professional and support staff. The primary duty and responsibility of APPS is to monitor over 17,000 offenders. The Probation/Parole Officer becomes a protector of society, a collector of fines, costs, and restitution for victims, a counselor, a coordinator and an advocate of the Criminal Justice System. Probation and Parole supervision encompasses a broad range of specialized skills each officer exercises to assist their clients.
APPS continues to operate three branch offices. Defendants can report to Media, Sharon Hill, Chester or Upper Darby, as well as having four (4) Forensic Liaisons located at the Delaware County Prison.
In conjunction with the Court, Adult Probation and Parole has continued the efficiency of using videoconferencing for many of the Gagnon I and Gagnon II Hearings, as well as, pre-sentence investigations.
In addition, probation officers in the Media, Chester, Sharon Hill and Upper Darby offices can interview incarcerated defendants via videoconferencing.
APPS participates in the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole's Standards of Compliance. By successfully maintaining the State's required standards, the Probation and Parole Department may be reimbursed up to 80% of professional salaries, although the State's current reimbursement is approximately 32.5%.
Since 1991, the Court and APPS has been actively involved in the development of Intermediate Punishment Planning. Pursuant to ACT 193 of 1990 (Intermediate Punishment) and ACT 210, which granted Sentencing Authority, APPS has assisted in the IP Plan writing and program design.
The Office of Adult Probation and Parole Services operates three (3) Specialty Courts.
Delaware County began its Treatment Court Program in 2008 with a grant secured from the Pennsylvania Commission of Crime and Delinquency. It addressed the over population at the prison of women with co-occurring disorders. Since that time the program had expanded to supervise and treat both men and women for a variety of offenses and drug uses. Presently, there are 115 clients in the program. Treatment court has celebrated 17 graduations with approximately 163 graduates and has been widely successful in helping offenders turn their lives around. With the current heroin and prescription pill epidemic in our county, we will continue to search for opportunities to expand this program in hopes of helping the most drug affected individuals in our community.
The Delaware County Veterans Court was established in 2011 as part of treatment court to provide services for men and woman who served us so honorably and are now in need of help. Due to the unique services/needs this population requires and due to the increased growth of the program; in 2012, Veterans Court became its own specialty court. The goal of the program is to re-establish veteran defendants as productive members of our community through the use of Veterans affairs and non-Veteran's Affairs benefits, treatment and support services. As a result of the county's philosophy of "No Veterans Left Behind" this program has flourished. Presently, there are 15 clients in the program, there have been 32 individuals who have graduated at 6 ceremonies to date. Because of the importance of supporting our veterans, Delaware County through the Veterans Court Sub-Committee will explore all avenues to expand this program to increase support of veterans.
In January 2014, Delaware County established its Mental Health Court. A culmination of work done to identify and address gaps in our system in regards to mental health services. This program has enjoyed the support from all areas of our criminal justice and social services systems. Presently, there are 20 individuals in the program. There have been two (2) Graduation Ceremonies for 11 individuals who have successfully completed this program. In identifying our significant needs, we are expecting that this specialty court will continue to grow.
In addition, the office provides General, DUI, Substance Abuse, Sex Offender Supervision, as well as, conducts pre-sentence investigations to the Court.