Intake Meetings

The intake meeting is a meeting where a Family Court officer meets with the youth and family and conducts a series of assessments on the youth. The intake meeting is designed to gather information about the youth and family that is relevant to the court in deciding what the next step in the court system will be for the youth. The results of the assessments given are the property of Muskegon Family Court.

Action Plan

In some cases, formal court supervision is deemed unnecessary, and an action plan addressing areas of risk is agreed to. If the action plan is successfully completed, the petition against the youth will not be authorized and the case will be closed. If the action plan is not completed or another legal offense occurs while the action plan is in effect, the youth may face legal consequences for the original petition.

Probation

In other cases, formal or intensive probation is recommended to the court along with interventions that will be monitored by a family court officer. If probation is ordered by the court, a case service plan will be developed by the family court officer, youth, and family that includes input from the intake meeting. The case service plan can be modified and adapted over the course of probation to suit the needs of each youth and family. Progress toward case service plan goals is an important factor in completing probation.

Requirements

If you have received notice to attend an Intake Meeting with your youth, please remember to complete the following forms enclosed with your notice and bring them to your conference:

  • Financial Statement
  • Youth / Family Assessment Questionnaire (electronic version linked below for your convenience)

Additionally, you are required to bring a photocopy of the following documents to your scheduled meeting:

  • Your youth's Birth Certificate
  • Your youth's Social Security Card
  • Your youth's most recent report card
  • Your youth's health/dental insurance card(s)
  • Your driver's license or state ID, and your youth's license or state ID if available
  • Your most recent pay stub, if you are employed

If your child is being charged with truancy, you must also bring a copy of their school attendance records.