Seven Steps to a Compassionate Child

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Most children operate in a Me-First world. Yet, as we seek to raise fully functioning citizens of the world, we must help them mature beyond their Me-First mentality. Some seem to have the emotional IQ of a kumquat, while others seem to intuitively know that harsh words will hurt someone’s feelings. Ideally, instilling compassion starts at home, teaching each of our seven sons how words or actions make other family members feel. A terrific book on this topic is Raising Compassionate, Courageous Children in a Violent World written by Dr. Janice Cohn.

New Year, New Opportunities for Reform

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California’s budget crisis may sweep in the state’s most drastic juvenile justice reforms as early as January 2012. Gov. Jerry Brown’s latest budget measure involves implementation of “trigger cuts” on January 1st which will affect virtually every facet of social services in the state. For juvenile justice, this includes requiring counties to pay more of their tab for housing their most serious and violent offenders in the state’s Department of Juvenile Facilities (DJF). Currently it costs the state taxpayer approximately $200,000 per year to house a youth in the ineffective and irreparable state system, while counties have contributed only minimally to the cost.  Under the triggers, the counties will be responsible for $125,000 of this cost per youth, or they can recall their youths and serve them locally.

Home for the Holidays for Two Brothers, Part Two

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Erin Dale, a probation officer in Cobb County, Georgia’s juvenile drug court, has never come across a kid who started using marijuna as young as Zach Dykes. “Seven years old,” Dale said. “Pre-teen, like 11 or 12, is the earliest I’d seen before Zach.”

Zach, 17, is currently in the Cobb County, Ga. Juvenile drug court program. Up until this April, the Hillgrove High School senior had smoked marijuana on and off – mostly on – since he was 7.

What to do With a Wayward 15-year-old Boy

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I have a 15-year-old son who, in the past year, has gone from a quiet, well- mannered, well- liked child to a stranger to me. He hasn’t attended school in about two months. He comes and goes as he pleases, he will not respect the curfews I set for him and sometimes is gone for days on end. He has started smoking and he has admitted to smoking weed. He doesn’t listen to anyone and if we try and talk to him he just leaves.

The High Cost of Ineffective Juvenile Justice Policy

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Anyone who has been involved with governmental agencies can probably attest to their generally poor quality of service and high level of ineptitude. Bureaucracies by their nature are designed to remove decision making power from those best able to make the decisions. They attempt to automize decision making, and the results are often predictably absurd. Juvenile justice systems are usually no exception. A recent study of the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) found it to be ineffective and costly according to a December 13th story in the Chicago Tribune.

This is the Season of Redemption

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Christmas is synonymous with redemption to me.  Christmas a few years ago expanded that belief to a higher level.  My 16-year-old son would not be joining us for Christmas for the second year in a row. He would be serving time in a federal juvenile correctional facility instead. In September of that year, he was charged with stealing a gun from a local pawn shop.  He was questioned for hours. He made the police mad, so he was arrested. My son did not act alone and law enforcement knew it.

Georgia Division of Family and Child Services Director Out

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Rachelle Carnesale will not continue as Director of Georgia’s Division of Family and Child Services (DFCS), the Associated Press reports. Gov. Nathan Deal appointed Carnesale to the post less than a year ago. DFCS, part of the Department of Human Services, investigates child abuse and coordinates foster care for the state. In a statement released Monday, DFCS spokesperson Ravae Graham said the agency would begin a search for a permanent replacement soon. Carnesale was formerly acting director of the Office of Child Advocate.

Razor wire fence borders the Metro Regional Youth Detention center in Atlanta, Ga. JJIE Staff, 2010. File photo.

Employee Misconduct and Violence High At Augusta Georgia Youth Detention Facility

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The Augusta, Ga., youth detention facility where a 19-year-old inmate was beaten in November and subsequently died ranks second among Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) facilities in employee misconduct, contraband and altercations between youth and staff. Only the Eastman YDC, according to reports obtained by The Augusta Chronicle, surpassed the Youth Development Campus (YDC) in Augusta. Jade Holder was severely beaten in his cell in Unit 43 of the Augusta YDC Nov. 7. He was pronounced brain dead at the hospital and died the following day.

Talking Back to Zero Tolerance

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In the year that I have worked as a juvenile defender, I have noticed patterns in the types of cases that land on my desk.  For instance, now that the school year is in full swing, the overwhelming majority of my juvenile caseload arises from school discipline issues.  It seems -- at least here in southeast Georgia -- as though schools are either no longer interested or no longer equipped to handle discipline in-house. Almost every public school in my rural circuit has police presence in the form of the School Resource Officer (SRO), a uniformed police officer who maintains an office on the school campus.  These officers maintain such a vigilant school presence to deter criminal activity such as drug possession/sale, weapon possession and other violent or dangerous activity. The reality is quite different. Increasingly, local school administrators are relying on these SROs and a broad Georgia statute that criminalizes “disruption or interference with operation of public schools” to handle children with behavioral problems. What exactly are the definitions for “disruption” and “interference”?

Disturbance at Paulding County, Georgia Regional Youth Detention Center

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Two 17 year olds were taken into custody by Sheriff’s deputies late Friday after a disturbance at the Paulding County Georgia Regional Youth Detention Center, according to local authorities. The county Sheriff’s Department was called by officials at the YDC, a privately run facility northwest of Atlanta, to help quell the disturbance. The Dallas-Hiram Patch, quoted Sgt. Brandon Gurley of the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office as saying a "large number" were found outside their assigned areas. “They were causing a disturbance, there was a good bit of damage already on site — flooding, windows broken and things of that nature,” Gurley said.