Insurance

Did you know that once a child has been in jail it is hard to get any kind of insurance for them.  Is there any redemption?  Can’t a child move on in life?  Are we always held in the captivity of our past?

Letter To The Editor RE: “Judge, sheriff balk at cuts”

In order to facilitate the necessary cuts to balance the Saint Joseph County budget, I recommend the following:
▪ Cut all Judges salaries.

 
▪ Utilize less expensive alternatives to incarceration, with a particular focus on ankle bracelet monitoring and community service.

 
▪ Reevaluate duplication of service programs such as the Right of Passage program that should be utilized as an substitute for jail time, but is misused as some form of counseling service that parents of confined youth must participate in, not once, but twice.

 
▪ Reassess Judge Nemeth’s educational program to ensure that it is cost effective and provides juveniles with an adequate education.

 

 

Judge Nemeth’s judicial order to raise “probation user fees” will simply add more stress to already troubled families.
If Judge Nemeth truly cares about the youth of Saint Joseph County, he should demonstrate his concern by making his expenditures and the way he conducts his business transparent so that the common council and the public at large could see how he manages his office.

Reply to Another Blogger/Best practices, No Fail Philosophy

“Sorry, but I am really getting a bit tired of folks using terms such as “best practices” or “promising practices” or “evidence based” to be describing how we should be serving kids at our runaway shelter or counseling center. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for studying what works and what doesn’t in youth services.”
“At Bill Wilson Center, we have been using many of the current “best practices” but we just call them by different names. For example, when serving chronic runaway and homeless youth in our shelter we have a “no fail” philosophy.”-Sparky Harlan www.billwilsoncenter.org

 
Yes, there is more to guiding children than using catch phrases such as “best practices.” Research is, however, a vital portion of the equation needed for identifying what programs succeed, which fail, and why some promising ideas appear to fall short. Treatment must be “evidence based in order to justify the use of public and private funds. I am not sure that there is a “one size fits all” panty hose approach to juvenile justice concerns. Referring to “best practices” “by different names” does not alter their importance, or turn bad procedures into good ones; and a all programs fail some of the time.

 
Why are kids failing? There was a time when an minor could drop out of school, and get a factory or secretarial job that would support them. Not anymore! In our modern, technology based society college or post secondary education is necessity in order to acquire employment. To accomplish that we need more than teachers.

 
We need to devote more resources to improving our local school systems. There are children falling through the gaps in the educational structure that need our support. Staff who work with children need to learn how to manage troubled kids. It isn’t just about standing up in front of a class and spewing information. Society has grown too complex for that approach to be successful. Schools need to developed better methodologies for identifying youth with learning disabilities, and other impediments that may conflict with learning, at the elementary grade level. Educators must to learn how to engage bright and gifted youth to prevent them from loosing focus, suffering from boredom, and acting out.

 
Old models that do not succeed ought to be discarded. This means that Psychologists and Social Scientists need to do research, provide data, and design programs that are effective in addressing community need.

 
Public schools have to tackle socialization problems that occur within their facilities such as bullying, and gang violence. No child can learn in unsafe surroundings. Improved monitoring and increased staffing could reduce the amount of in school student-to-student abuse. If this behavior is addressed when children are in the primary grades future teen aggression will be reduced. Instead, schools reduce the number of staff and teachers they employ to save money, especially at the elementary level. The grade school years are the time when we can have the greatest impact on young lives. Our greatest efforts, and our resources, to control adolescent criminal behavior, should be here.
We are never going to find the perfect program, or mode of treatment. We may find curriculum that work “pretty good” most of the time. That is the “best practices” that we should be aiming for.

Juvenile Justice in America

The first juvenile justice court system was established in Cook County Illinois in 1899. This court was created to address the unique needs of children and adolescents by recognizing that they were “immature and required protection.” Minors were seen as more likely to profit from treatment. The new court, viewed the social problems of child neglect and abuse as a large part of their responsibility. The original function of this new Juvenile Justice court classification was to protect and guide the young. All states in America had established Juvenile courts by 1925, under the mandate to provide rehabilitation, justice and protection for those most at risk. These courts not only focused on a child’s offence, but on what type of counseling and supervision that was best for each child that it served. There was also a focus on informality and privacy intended to protect the young person.

By the 1960’s, in response to the increased volume of cases in urban areas, Child courts began to focus on retribution that was based on race, gender, and social class. They also fell under condemnation for conflict of interest as the processor, and service provider.

The 1970’s saw a reduction of custody rates as more importance was placed on therapy within a community setting. This process was overturned in the 1980’s and 1990’s as a result of federal legislation that focused on punishment rather than counseling and probation. This legislation also allowed for the transfer of  the young to adult courts. As a result, approximately 200,000 children under the age of eighteen are removed to adult courts annually. Recent studies suggest that such high rate of transfer contribute to an elevated percentage of repeat youthful offenders.

According to a study conducted by The Annie E. Casey Foundation, President Douglas W. Nelson;

            Among all the policy areas affecting vulnerable children and families juvenile  justice as probably suffered the most alarming gaps between best practices and common practice.

            In their January 2009 issue brief, The Annie E. Casey Foundation noted the need for minor courts to reduce their expensive and ineffective overreliance on imprisonment and reduce disparities in the justice given to different racial groups and gender.

The 1974 Juvenile Justice and Delinquency and Prevention Act, (JJDPA), is up for reauthorization this year, 2009. Since 2000 the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention , (OJJDP), has had its budget reduced by nearly 60%, and research and distribution
efforts were reduced by 90%. As a result of these budgetary cuts, the federal government has done little in recent years to protect young wrongdoers. Restoration of the OJJDP’s budget, leadership role, and reauthorization of the JJDPA will accomplish the following:

▪ Renewal of OJJDP inquiry, support, and public information to pre 2000 levels.

▪ Linking funding to cost to  effective and successful juvenile justice strategies.

▪ The use of funds to encourage tracking of key indicators for success, and failure, such
  as recidivism.

▪ Performance of feasibility studies for additional data collection to promote the use of evidence
  based policies.

According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation essay 2008 KIDS COUNT, federal funding efforts should focus on the following priorities:

            #1 Combat overreliance on training school incarceration and pre-trial  detention. Despite statistical evidence demonstrating that less that 25%  of all juvenile crime is a felony, juvenile justice systems routine incarcerate youth who pose no threat to public safety.

            #2 Take aggressive steps to reduce racial disparities in juvenile justice  systems.  A     1988 Congressional amendment to the JJDPA made addressing disparities a core requirement, offering neither solution nor  sanctions for lack of  compliance.

            #3 Combat abuse and protect the safety of youth confined in juvenile  facility. Establish mandatory reporting for all unexplained incidents in the facility.                 

            #4 Limit the number of youth tried in adult courts. Research has  demonstrated that the brains of children and adolescents, are less  developed than brains of adults.  This results in immature decision making skills and decreased decision making.                                                                             

    #5  Conduct research and support demonstration projects to address  other pervasive weaknesses in the juvenile justice system.

                                
                         -Exclusion of families from decision making concerning treatment options.
                         -Inappropriate use of “zero tolerance” policies, and                                                                                               “over- zealous” prosecution of minor offences .                                                                                                           -Incarceration of emotionally ill and troubled youth rather than referring them to an appropriate facility.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                - Reduced incarceration of school skippers, and under  age drinker referred to as status offenders.” Many of  the juvenile courts, including those in the  state of   Indiana, exploit a loophole allowing confinement of  status offenders who violate a court order.  Closure of   this loophole would remediate the situation.                                                                                                                                                                          -access to qualified council.            

A more effective approach to adolescent misconduct is the model of restorative justice . This concept requires the offender to make some form of restoration to the ill-treated party. This forces the lawbreaker, with the permission of the offended, to “face their victims and the consequences of their crimes.” Which serves as a learning experience for the child. In Australia and New Zealand, all criminal cases are referred to the system of restorative justice as long as the ill-treated party is willing to participate in the process.

In order to ensure a sound and secure future for our nation, Americans must resolve the failings of our minor courts. Juvenile Corrections must become a growth experience that guides the child into becoming a mature adult. We teach them nothing if we, as adults, fail to act ethically and fairly in our dealings with youth. We must make youthful corrections an opportunity for growth that will allow the young offender to learn from their mistakes, not learn how to become better citizens.
The process of justice starts with a fair and equitable system based on best practices, and common sense. The Constitution isn’t just for adults. It is for all Americans.

Is Incarceration Always the Answer?

How do we, as a society, view troubled children? Do we see them as selfish untamed animals, the result of  ”original sin”? Or do we see them as vulnerable and in need of guidance? Are they sick-mentally ill or deficient? Are they predators, or victims of parental, (and societal), neglect? Are there just too many to bother with, so let’s just hide them away?

If we hold fast to the “original sin” point of view, then confinement is the appropriate judgment for all wrongdoers. If you see kids as at risk, then we need to seek better solutions to adolescent crime. No one denies that young people make mistakes, sometimes serious ones. But how we handle those missteps determines the quality and course of our most precious resource, and our nation s future.

 
Alternatives to Imprisonment:

 There are alternatives to custody, even for aggressive delinquents.  Juvenile corrections must first shift its focus away from castigation to improvement and instruction. Ankle bracelet monitoring provides an acceptable less expensive alternative to jail for many children. It is  especially suitable for first time offenders. This allows correctional departments  to know where the minor is at all times. It is also possible to monitor the young person to make sure that each offender  attends  school.  Saint Joseph County,  Indiana  successfully uses this system to monitor young people on probation. As  management for first time status offenders, it is an suitable option.  It is a tactic that control’s costs, and, by limiting teen mobility, it prevents the first time rule breaker  from having contact with repeat delinquents. It also preserves the family bond.  An additional substitute to confinement is the use of family counseling. The Rite of Passage  program, as promoted by the Annie E. Casey Foundation,  as family therapy substitute for custody, has the potential to aide  families as they learn to cope with troubled teens.

The juvenile justice system is often used as a dumping ground for children that the courts don’t know what to do with, and as a proxy for foster care. Advancements  in  foster care such as enhanced screening and selection for placement, could help provide a healthier options for youth that need to be removed from dysfunctional homes. Group home residency, such as Mishawaka Indiana’s Family and Children’s Center provide therapy in a safe environment where troubled youngsters can learn better-quality  conduct s in a protected atmosphere. A hierarchy of different remedies should be sought after before the decision is made to imprison. Only when these choices have failed should the decision be made to imprison a child.  To date,  adjudicators in Indiana have had wide discretionary power that allows them to jail at will.  

Humanizing Youth Correction:

Traditionally, child imprisonment has been categorized  as “boys/girls school”. It is not  ”school.” It is a prison. It must be restored to its original purpose and become an instructional facility where only the most aggressive, and unmanageable children are consigned. All interned teens need to be offered quality academic and vocational training that will meet their educational needs, and offer  them hope.  Correctional Officers who are employed in the facility must be comprehensively assessed in order to ensure that there is nothing in their personal history that would make them unacceptable for work with children. There must be comprehensive video monitoring of all inmate movement within the facility for the safety of all persons. In addition to videotape supervision, there should be  public oversight  from citizens who are employed outside of the justice organization serving as a majority, that perform habitual spontaneous inspections of all correctional institutions, in order to guarantee facility compliance with state and federal regulations,  and validate the wellbeing of all children present.

Juvenile detention should not be a communities only correctional choice. According to Rosemary Sarri PhD., And Jeffery Shook, MSW, JD, of the university of Michigan

 The progress of the 60s and 70s was dramatically reversed in the 980s and 1990s with the passage of federal and state legislation that emphasized incarceration and punishment, along with withdrawal of the distinction between juveniles and adults as far as certain criminal behavior was concerned.  As we “celebrated” 100 years of juvenile justice in 2000, the laws and philosophy had returned to many of the practices in place prior to the intervention  of the juvenile court.  Thousands of juveniles were held in adult prisons, often under extremely punitive conditions.

Should incarceration  be society’s first, or last line of defense against  young offenders?  Correctional options exist that act to direct, and assist immature lawbreakers in creating healthier behaviors by providing them with guidance, leadership, education, and job counseling. The focus of juvenile justice should be to provide children who commit crimes with a future as productive members of society.

Letter to the editor/Voice of the People/Exercise 4

“The Street Ends Here”, An Upcoming Documentary About the life of Coach Bob Hurly
In a recent article, Repeal juvenile life sentences , Tribune reported that Michigan allows children ages 14-16, to receive life sentences. Indiana has a similar track record. Is this the best way to correct our children? Even a dangerous child is still immature and in need of guidance.
On CBS Sunday Morning, Charles Osgood featured basketball coach Bob Hurly, of St. Anthony’s High School in Jersey City. He has dedicated his life to helping under privileged boys beat the odds. His students succeed through hard work and self discipline. He also sets an example of hard work and dedication.
We need to have “Coach Hurly” in all of us. We need to inspire our youth to see their gifts. We can become a positive example for our youth. “Our youth are our future.” How many times have we heard that before? What are you doing to build America’s future?
In Indiana, our juvenile court judges are voted into office. If they do not perform their jobs the way we think that they should, we can vote them out.

From Polish Jokes to Popes

When I was growing up in South Bend, IN we used to tell Polish jokes. We never thought much about it at the time. As I grew older, and began to have Polish friends at my high school, I began to wonder if those jokes were really that funny. After I grew up I realized how wrong they really were and I stopped telling them. I still gave very little thought to the Polish- American community as a whole however, until March 3rd of 2009.

 
On that Wednesday I attended a program about the history of the Polish American community in South Bend IN. It was part of a regular series of lectures given by the local museum, the Northern Indiana Center For History on Washington Street. The lectures are part of a regular lecture series that are largely attended by retirees, but are open to the general public. They are always popular, but this lecture was filled to capacity of about 100 people. Many attendees were first or second generation Polish Americans who had grown up on the west side of South Bend.
After the lecture we toured a home that was an example of the type of homes that Polish workers lived in during the Great Depression.

 

Touring that home with retired Polish-American’s was educational. I learned as much from listening to the seniors reminisce about their grandparents, childhood, and traditions as I did from the lecture. I also gained new respect for this close knit ethnic group as I learned about the way they stood by each other through difficult times. They had a sense of humor that allowed them to navigate hard times together, and support each other with the help of organizations, associations, and their Catholic Faith.

 

I also learned some bits of wisdom, such as “If you want to beat a dog, you’ll always find a stick.” I thought that I was just going to hear a priest talk, for about an hour, about local Polish history and Immigration, but I gained much more in that short hour and a half than I expected to.

 
Now, if I’m out in my local community and meet someone who is of Polish decent, I remember those seniors from the Wednesday afternoon lecture and wonder if I am speaking to one of their children or grandchildren.
I want to tell them how lucky they are.

The History of Polish Immigration to South Bend Indiana/Part II

As soon as a new arrival began working they usually sent money back to Poland to allow other family members to follow them to South Bend.

 
When a Polish worker arrived in South Bend they were quickly integrated into a large ethnic community of fellow Poles who totaled 16,000 men, women and children, by 1909. America’s Poles also had an impact on world politics by offering to support President Woodrow Wilson’s second bid for the presidency if he entered World War I and liberated Poland. In 1921 Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act, that limited immigration to thirty percent of a countries “nationality group” living in the United States. This limited Polish immigration to 25,827 Poles from 1921, onward.
During World War II, six million poles, Jews, Christian and Muslim were murdered by Hitler’s Nazis, and many more by Stalin, before the fall of communism in the 1980′s, causing many more Poles fleeing tyranny to arrive in the established Polish community of South Bend Indiana.

 

Those future Americans have had a profound effect on their new home by influencing local culture with Polish food, music, dance, and holiday celebration. “Michiana” residents still enjoy celebrating “Dingus Day”, the day after Easter, that celebrates the conversion of Poland to Christianity. South Bend’s Poles established many Polish-Catholic churches, schools, and organizations, such as Saint Stanislaw’s Catholic Church and School, and the West Side Democratic Club, in the local community, leaving a lasting impact on Northern Indiana.

The History of Polish Immigration to South Bend Indiana/Part I

The nation of Poland has had a turbulent history. Poland ceased to have a stable government as early as the 1700′s. It was partitioned three times between 1773 and 1793, and the Polish people unsuccessfully revolted against their country’s occupation in 1794, 1830, 1846, and again 1863.

 
Napoleonic reforms in Prussian Poland, between 1807 and 1823, and Austrian, (Galicia), and German Poland respectively, ended serfdom and left peasants without land, and burdened with high taxes. German landowners purchased large amounts of land furthering the peasant’s homeless state. Cultural diversity and conflict exacerbated the already precarious condition of the indigenous population, who were further burdened by hunger, disease, and illiteracy. By 1846 displacement and unrest forced many Poles to emigrate in the hope of finding a better life.
Polish immigration to America occurred in three stages:

 
(1) The Colonial Period, 1608 to 1783; Poles arrived in Jamestown as “skilled” glass blowers, and general laborers.

 
(2) Political Period 1783 to 1840; Political instability brought many Poles to America seeking freedom. Immigrating Poles, during the first and second wave, settled in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana.

 
(3) Economic Period 1870 to 1924; Poles arrive in America seeking economic opportunity. The third wave of immigration, especially after World War I, brought many settlers to South Bend Indiana.

 
Most settlers arrived in the United States with very little money, and even less knowledge of the English language. Some arrived on tickets supplied by the Oliver Chilled Plow Works, and the Studebaker Corporation. These Poles, who were often educated enough to be able to read and write Polish, were recruited to work in South Bend’s factories. The South Bend, Mishawaka area had many unfilled factory positions, where demand for products exceeded the work force’s ability to meet that demand. The new Polish arrivals filled those vacancies.

The Red Bud T-Shirt

I have just finished embroidering a t-shirt that I designed while my son was in prison.  It is a picture of a redbud tree at sunset. These projects relax me, like  a form of meditation, and help me focus my thoughts.  My son has been out of prison for quite a while now.    He is off of probation, and doing well remarkably well, both socially and academically.  And now, my t-shirt is finished.  My family is turning a page that will allow us to feel normal again; but a new kind of normal.  The old normal is gone forever.

 Those without children in their lives may not be able to understand  the pain that a parent or loved one experiences when the child in their life suffers.  That is what happens when your child goes to prison when they shouldn’t be sent there.  Even if the child did something wrong, there are degrees of wrong, and degrees of correction needed.  When the punishment exceeds the crime, parents ask , “where is the justice? ”   To  parents, the pain is the same, even if the child deserves to be punished.  It is worse if the punishment is excessive.  When a child suffers, the parents still feel pain.   It is worse than watching a kitten or puppy get mauled by a lawnmower.

 It is my child, I made this person,  he is a part of me.  I would have traded places with him if I could.  When he was sent to “boy’s school”, (prison),  I felt that a part of my body had been amputated without anesthetic.   I had to sit there while they took him away into something that I couldn’t protect him. He was given an indeterminate  sentence, as juveniles are in the state of Indiana.  I didn’t know when he would be coming home again.  It was the worst day of my life, and for a middle aged woman,  that is saying a lot. 

 I have been a crime victim, but that is nothing like the victimization that you feel when your child is taken away in chains, like an animal, for a “status”  first offence, (minor crimes like skipping school, pushing a teacher away from you without causing bodily injury).   

 I know how the parents of Casey Anthony feel.  She is accused of killing her daughter.   I will never understand her.  I do understand her parents.  Parental love, functioning properly, is unconditional.  Your child doesn’t have to earn your love, it is just there from the beginning.  For most mothers, it is there before the baby is even born, because your baby is a part of you, yet it isn’t.  

 The day that I gave birth to my twin boys is fresh in my memory .   I had a hastily planned caesarean section  with general anesthesia.  I woke up and two of my favorite family members were holding my hands, and my husband was beside my bed.  “oh it hurts, it f—ing hurts” I groaned.  “Where are my babies?”  I could hear wailing in the background.   The nurse shoved a pinched up, little pink, blue and white stocking capped baby into my face and said, “here’s one.”  Then she shoved another blue and white capped baby up to me, all I could see was the back of his head, and said “here’s the other one.”

My premature boys were then whisked away to the nursery.  Seconds later my family told me that baby two had stopped breathing and had to be taken to the N.I.C.U., (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit), to be “intubated”.  My gut knotted .   I was sick.  The doctor would not allow me to be taken to see him until the next day.   I could only spend, a short time feeding his brother if my exhausted husband remained with me because the nursed feared that I was too weak to hold him.  My boy were early, sick, and I couldn’t fix them.   At birth they had Apgar scores  of two and three, (a neonatal  evaluation scale, named after it inventor Dr. Virginia Apgar, that gives a newborn a score from one to ten, ten being the highest score) of two and three. 

 I felt completely helpless.  When I visited my second son the next day, he was curled up in a little ball with a tube stuck down into his lungs so that a machine could breath for him.  I wasn’t allowed to touch him because, when touched, he became distressed and stopped breathing.  I could only spend a few minutes at his side, just watching him sleep.  

 When he was taken away in chains, I felt the same way that I did on the day he was born.  The day he stopped breathing.   Only I felt numb.