Several states have come to believe the research that kids should not be placed in adult facilities. Sheesh why did it take a bunch of research to figure that out?
This report from JDAI News examines twenty-seven pieces of legislation between 2005 and 2010. BRAVO! Now where are the rest of the states?
I recently had a long phone conversation with a very charming, very smart woman about the lovely Ashley Kamm. Throughout she would say “Red flag!” and internally I would say “Yeah, I knew that”.
Denial isn’t for sissies. It takes tremendous effort to stay in that warm, fuzzy place where hope springs eternal and other people don’t know what they’re talking about. It’s different for my child and here are the reasons why…
Sigh.
After the conversation ended, I told Ashley we needed to talk, make a plan and then implement it. Why? Because I could not let her stay in denial: That I would always be here to protect her and help her pick up the pieces. That I would always be able to pay her bills so that she could continue her limited forays into the world. That I was even willing to do that anymore.
Did she get it? Yes, in her head. In her heart, not so much. So we continue the conversation every day. It’s loud sometimes and messy. She is struggling as much with the changes in me as with the changes I am demanding from her.
Denial is an addiction. Getting clean isn’t for sissies either. It takes commitment, patience and understanding. Like every other person in recovery I truly regret it took so long.
Crowdsourcing isn’t just for social media.
In essence crowdsourcing means that customers help organizations decide what the next product or service or improvement should be. It’s a way of including the people who matter most – the folks who actually generate revenue.
I’m wondering how we can do that in the juvenile justice system. Instead of being alone together let’s just be together. Let’s crowdsource what we know and feel to be true about our kids in the system and create change.
I’m ready! Join me?
There has never been a time I regretted becoming a mother. I have always believed Ashley and I were meant to be together. We would be each other’s teachers. We would change the world. It would not matter for 10 milliseconds that she wasn’t mine biologically.
All true. Still.
Yes I see what I woulda/coulda/shoulda done differently. Not for my own sake but for Ashley’s.
I would have accepted that genetics and the bonding between a newborn and her birth mother matters.
I could have been less swayed by her conversational skills. I thought she actually understood what we were saying.
I should have created more structure instead of winging her around the world on business trips and frequent vacations. I thought it was more important she was with me.
But I have loved her unconditionally and as it turns out that is what Ashley is grateful for. So I am too.
A Happy Mother’s Day indeed.
Seriously?
I am always amazed about stories I hear. Just in general.
This story about an autistic teenager getting locked up is one of those stories.
Short version: Kid is seen sitting in an open grassy area near a school. Might have a gun. Area schools lock down for safety. Law enforcement is called. Struggle ensues. Taken down. Taken in. Sentenced in a couple weeks. No gun.
Sigh.
Here’s the other part of the story that amazes me. It became a national story. Holly Robinson Peete whose son is autistic brought it up on her television show.
Many young people with autism can’t read social cues, she said. “They don’t know how to interact with authority. We need to make sure that law enforcement understands this, too,” she said.
That will not happen. Law enforcement has one, and only one, responsibility. That’s to prevent, stop or solve crimes. We have to stop asking them to take on jobs that need to be done by mental health specialists, counselors and institutions.
In other words shall we spend $50,000 a year incarcerating someone who clearly doesn’t fully understand what is going on around them or should we spend $8500 on community services?
The other question. Who will stand up for the kids who don’t have such socially acceptable problems like autism? Why are the voices in the heads of schizophrenic, depressed or bipolar teens held more responsible?
Seriously.
There has never been a time I was in the JDC visitation room that virtually every kid who entered the room did not run to his/her parents. ”Hi Mama!” ”Daddy you came!”
I get choked up thinking about it.
These are children. Their brains aren’t completely developed. We all know that. Why else are there laws against driving under the age of 16 or voting at 17 or drinking at 20? We have decided as a society that people aren’t sufficiently mature to engage in those activities at least until then.
I understand that many of those kids were found guilty of crimes (the rest are being held until a hearing). I get it. I promise you I would have been faint with fear if I found any of them in my house or trying to steal the change out of my car or who knows what.
We weep over the ignorance of a girl who has a baby at 12 but believe she knows exactly what she is doing when involved in holding up a convenience store. We shake our heads at violence in music, movies and games then feel shocked when teenagers internalize that violence and act on it. We drink and smoke and have random sex as adults and are incredulous when our kids follow suit underage.
I have discovered that children are believed to understand when they have committed “horrific” crimes. The ones that are headline news. That no neighbor predicted. Beyond the comprehension of friends. God forbid it’s an election year.
We don’t expect them to fully comprehend the consequences of stealing a car or buying a dime bag of dope or bullying someone on the internet.
Sending them to adult prison doesn’t work. The research is overwhelming. We have to come up with a better way.
And for those who say “They’re criminals. They deserve everything they get!” I say I hope you never have to face it.
Want to read more?
Parent Testimony Less Youth Crime Lowering The Age Of Responsibility
Bunch of kids in detention tonight. If it’s an average night in Lucas County, Ohio that means forty-four juveniles are already sitting in their cells. Out of that forty-four there’s a really good chance that 25%, or eleven, of them have a mental illness.
WTH?
According to the Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio
An Ohio official, quoted in the GAO reported, that “[m]ost youth with mental health concerns are housed here whether appropriate or not as there are minimal mental health resources provide by this state for them.”
Really? We stick them in jail because there’s nowhere else for them to go? Can you imagine not being able to get the services your child so desperately needs because they aren’t available and they end up in jail? Where they can’t get services because the justice system isn’t designed to manage mental health issues?
Unconscionable. Outrageous. Destructive. How do we call ourselves civilized?
Want to read more?
Rethinking Juvenile Detention In Ohio
National Center For Mental Health and Juvenile Justice
