The Juvenile Court Restitution Work Program was recently cited as one of the Best Practices and Programs in Cost Control and Efficiency by The Council of State Governments in cooperation with Deloitte and Touche Consulting Group. The following description was published in Success, A Profile of State Government for the 21 st Century . The Council of State Governments, Lexington, Kentucky, 1997. The Juvenile Court Restitution Work Program has achieved a high collection percentage on its victim restitution orders and on juvenile court fines and fees. Young offenders work at minimum wages to pay for their restitution.
Offenders also have the option to work in supervised work crews.
The collection rate is enhanced by the juvenile court's automated system of tracking overdue accounts. Offenders are sent a notice a few days before a fine or fee is due, and if necessary, a few days after it is past due. Other collection tools include the ability to deny driver's license renewals until overdue accounts are paid, and the ability to attach state tax refunds for overdue accounts. The juvenile court also has hired several collections clerks who engage in active outreach efforts, sometimes including personal visits to those with delinquent accounts, to arrange a payment schedule.