Juveniles who have a history of crime in Sharon and Farrell have had some unexpected visits from their juvenile probation officer, truancy officers and the police.

Since late September, people involved in Operation Nightlight/Daylight have been working to enhance the supervision of children on probation, District Attorney James P. Epstein said.

The "daylight" portion of the program pairs truancy officers with the police to check on kids with chronic school attendance problems, Epstein said. They also talk with kids who are on the streets to find out why they're not in school, he said.

The "nightlight" portion of the program pairs juvenile probation officers with police to make home visits to children who have been identified as troubled, Epstein said. He said the idea is to keep kids out of trouble and lower the possibility that they'll commit a crime.

"Our juvenile staff had traditionally not ridden with police, worked the streets and made home visits unexpectedly, especially after hours," Epstein said.

Mark Benedetto, chief juvenile probation officer, thought the program would be a good way of enhancing supervision of some of our children who were on probation, Epstein said.

The program is working in conjunction with the Weed and Seed initiative.

Operation Nightlight/Daylight was first implemented in Boston in the mid-1990s when police realized that juvenile crimes and the number of juvenile victims were on the rise, Epstein said. He said the statistics in Boston showed the program worked so it was scaled down and adjusted for Mercer County.

The program is paid for by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, the state Department of Community and Economic Development and the county.

The Shenango Valley Ministerium is also paying for a portion of the program that uses members of the ministerium in mentoring and counseling roles, Epstein said. "Members of the clergy are extraordinarily good role models for kids; to be able to bring this in the program was quite good," he said.

Brian Faber, Sharon patrolman and the school resource officer, said the daylight part of the program is important because "it's a combined effort between agencies including the schools, police and juvenile probation."

Truancy and tardiness are problems in the schools and regular contacts with kids by the truancy and police officers help to curb the problem and avoid reoccurring problems.

"It shows the residents that the school and the police department are working together to make a better community," Michael Tomko, truancy officer, said.

Anna Straughn, a juvenile probation officer who works in the Commodore Perry and Reynolds school districts, rides with the Sharon and Southwest Regional police.

Kids are transient and Operation Nightlight lets juvenile probation officers see what kids from the northern region of the county are doing, Ms. Straughn said.

The program holds the kids accountable for their actions, she said. Also it gives the juvenile probation officers a chance to see what's going on in kid's homes which can lead to beneficial services, she said.

You can contact Herald Staff Writer Kristen Garrett at kgarrett@sharonherald.com