• Probation is an alternative to jail time.jail image by MLProject from Fotolia.com
  
  From state-to-state, criminals face a multitude of consequences as a result of breaking the law. One way for those who have committed crimes to pay their debts to society is by serving jail time. When the courts see fit, probation, as opposed to jail, is another option for punishing someone convicted of a crime. In Illinois, divisions of probation have terms available for adult and juvenile offenders who qualify for probation services.
  
  

Standard Adult Probation Programs

• Standard adult probation programs in Illinois include the Adult Probation Supervision Unit, Adult Public Services Unit and the Domestic Violence Unit. These programs address the problems relating to the offender's criminality. The Adult Public Services Unit has terms for probationers that include punitive restitution paid to the community where the crime occurred. Terms followed by the Domestic Violence Unit include the caseworker's authority to enforce court orders and orders of protection. Under the department's terms, the probationer is regularly visited by someone from the Field Services Unit after regular visitation hours to ensure the family's safety.
  
  

Intensive Probation

• Intensive Probation Units closely supervise felons who would otherwise be imprisoned if not for the sentencing of probation. One term of this unit is the probationer must successfully complete one year of intensive supervision before being awarded standard supervision. In the Therapeutic Intensive Monitoring (TIM) Unit, terms include compliance with weekly agendas set by the program coordinator. Probationers in the TIM program must be clients of Drug Court and/or the Mental Health Court.
  
  

Juvenile Probation

• The Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) has detention and treatment facilities for troubled youths who require such. In the instances where juveniles are released from a residential facility or when the judge sees fit to not sentence them to a facility, probation becomes a consequence of the laws they broke. Juvenile probation officers provide the court with a comprehensive social history of the offender. This history includes the juvenile's behavior patterns with family and at school, as well as their legal, medical and social services records. DJJ is usually an option for first time offenders and focuses on mental health concerns, sex offenses, high-risk cases and gender-specific programming.