Washington County Juvenile Court serves children who live in Washington County but outside the city limits of Johnson City. Director Angel Blackwell, Office Manager Gina Rutherford and three Youth Service Officers work with children and youth who have been referred through several primary ways: school truancy, unruly behavior (parents' referral), dependency/neglect on the part of parents, or delinquency (criminal).

After a child enters the system, he or she is matched with one of the Youth Service Officers (YSOs): Andy Jones or Kathy Harris. The YSO's provide local probation monitoring — unless the child is on state probation — and oversee the provision of other needed services, such as counseling. The goal is to provide services that can help a child eventually to not require probation: to provide the services as long as needed but no longer.

Recently, the department partnered with the State of Tennessee on a pilot program involving Vanderbilt University and aimed at improving mental health services for juveniles. Director Berry said the program should allow his department to broaden its available number of mental health service providers, and help the state determine whether more and different provider options are needed in this area.