Westchester Probation Department Briefing
 
Where We Are Located

The Westchester County Probation Department Administrative Office and some Criminal and Family Court services are based in White Plains, New York (USA). Family Court Services units are also located in Yonkers and New Rochelle and Criminal Court Services are also located in Mount Vernon, Yonkers, Valhalla (Department of Corrections) and Peekskill. Additionally, probation officers conducting Pre-sentence or Predisposition Investigations tele-work from their homes.

The county abuts the northern border of the Bronx, the most northern borough of New York City. The Hudson River forms its western border and the state of Connecticut its eastern border. There are 6 cities, 14 towns and 23 villages located within its 450 square miles. The 880,000 residents within the county represent a diverse richness of cultures, religions, and races. We live in urban areas such as of Yonkers, on horse farms located in the rolling hills of the northern section of the county, and in old factory towns found along the shores of the Hudson River. The historic penitentiary, Sing Sing, is located in one such community leading to the coining of the phrase, "…being sent ‘up the river’". Washington Irving saw his "headless horseman" in Sleepy Hollow and rap music has found a home in Mount Vernon.

State Mandate

The mandates for the department’s duties derive from New York State law. Section 256, paragraph 1 of the New York State Executive Law that provides for the establishment of county probation agencies. "Each county shall maintain or provide for a probation agency or agencies to perform probation services therein, including intake, investigations, pre-sentence reports, supervision, conciliation, social treatment and other such functions as are assigned to probation agencies pursuant to law." Subsequently, the department is a county agency operating under the mandates of the New York State Division of Probation and Correctional Alternatives. Although the state contributes to the cost of probation, local tax levy funds about 80 % of this department’s annual budget of approximately 18 million dollars.  The department is the fourth largest in the state with a total staff of 225 (200 Sworn Officers).  Our size qualifies us as one of New York’s "Big Seven" (probation departments with more that 90 officers). The "Big Seven" comprises sixty-five percent of the probation officers within the state.

Who Do We Serve

The department provides probation services to all of the communities within the County served by the Ninth Judicial District. Within Westchester, this represents the New York State Surrogates Court, the New York State Family Court, the New York State Supreme Court, the Westchester County Court and forty-three city, town, and village courts . The department also provides services to Westchester County's Local Conditional Release Commission. Additional services are provided to victims of crime.

Service Delivery Provided

Since the department uses a offense/behavioral model of service delivery, the following represents the organizational breakdown of specialist functions:

  • Presentence Investigation (includes Victim Services Outreach)
  • Criminal Court Intake Unit Inter/Intrastate Unit
  • Criminal Court Supervision
  • DWI Offender Enforcement Unit (Surveillance)
  • DWI Offender Unit (includes Victim Panels in collaboration with M.A.D.D.)
  • Electronic Home Monitoring (PEHM)
  • Administrative Caseload Unit (automated reporting)
  • Alternative Supervision Program (ASP) and the Conditional Release Program (alternatives to local and state incarceration)
  • Direct Treatment Alternative to Incarceration (intensive drug treatment with officer located at the treatment sites)
  • Criminal Court Comprehensive Intervention Program (sex offenders and bi-polar psychiatric cases)
  • Criminal Court Economic Sanction Unit (restitution)
  • Criminal Court Community Service Program
  • Gang Related Intervention Program (GRIP)
  • Special Operations Unit (warrants)
  • Probation Against Violence Unit (supervision of batterers receiving terms of probation from either Family or Criminal Courts that includes Domestic Violence Victims Services Outreach)
  • Family Court Juvenile Intake·     Family Court Adult Intake
  • Family Court Adult Investigation (visitation, custody, and adoption matters)
  • Family Court Juvenile Investigation
  • Family Court Juvenile Supervision (both formal or court-ordered and informal or assigned directly from Family Court Juvenile Intake)
  • Supervised Visitation (contractual arrangement with the YWCA)
  • Juvenile Community Service
  • Linkages (joint project with Mental Health Department serving juveniles)
  • Criminal Justice Program Coordination (county-wide)
  • Personnel/Staff Development·     Personnel/Payroll
  • Planning and Evaluation·     Criminal Court Record Room
  • Cognitive Life Skills Coordination
  • Drug Testing Coordination
  • Safe Safety Coordinating Committee
  • Information Officer

Specific information concerning some of the service delivery performed by the Criminal Court and Family Court Bureaus can be obtained by clicking on the links below.