OK, now I get it

[buddy]

klmno, did you say you attached a specific list of what goals and objectives you wanted to this email??

 

[klmno]

Yes, a letter was attached and it was stated in nicer words- I guess I'd just had enough after typing up the letter and thinking of all the laws they've been breaking and feeling like we were intentionally being mislead and jerked around. I don't know if you all have ever read a typical parole plan or not, but it's basicly a list of the requirements and usually less than 2 pages long. This was much longer and like I said, and half of it was stating objectives one would find in an IEP or MH plan instead of parole requirements. Even if he's wanting to dictate the measurable goals for the counseling, which in my humble opinion is outside his area of professional ability, he didn't even write the things in terms of measurable goals. That's why I say it's so obvious he just doesn't know how to. And it makes me madder at those in charge of him and making sure he's trained and doing his job right than him but I end up taking it out on him because he's the POC and when I can tell he's trying to BS me or wing his way thru something, I end up losing my patience.

The other thing is that leaving it in terms like "difficult child will get a better understanding of the impact of his behavior" for a parole plan means that PO could violate difficult child if he decides difficult child doesn't understand enough. Also, making the counseling goals parole requirements would mean even if we comply with the counselor and mtgs, etc, but it isn't helping, difficult child could be violated.

Star, I'm not breaking the law and I'm sure of that. We would be if we were under court order but we aren't and I'm not the one on parole and he can't violate difficult child right now because difficult child isn't on parole yet. I'm trying to prevent him from leaving loopholes in the parole requirements that would allow him to violate difficult child even if difficult child hasn't really done something wrong. I am making sure that I don't insinuate he's (PO) done something wrong that I don't know for a fact is wrong/illegal. Otherwise, I word it like "it appears to me this would be against Department of Juvenile Justice regs". In this last letter, I pointed out 2 sections of state law by code # so he can look it up and they prove he hasn't complied but I stated them to him in the context of asking if he will providing "ABC" and "DEF" IAW with these laws soon. I hope he does look them up- I think he'll learn more about his responsibilities than they have taught him. I have talked to attnys and my choices were to contact ACLU and DOJ, which I have done, or to pay very big bucks for an attny to take Department of Juvenile Justice to court meaning they'd have to go up against the AG and probably be qualified to take it to the state supreme court. It would be similar to taking the sd to court when they aren't complyying with wrightslaw. Big Bucks.

 

[buddy]

You're human and you have been thru so much. You did do the letter so you got your specific points across and I suspect they already knew you felt as you said in the email. I fear no matter who you get, this is a systemic issue. I hope they just take what you say and do the right thing. HUGS

 

[klmno]

thank you, Buddy- you snuck in while I was ETA my last post. Yes, it's systemmatic and many believe it's gotten worse since this last director of Department of Juvenile Justice went into position a year or so ago. The person who was director of Department of Juvenile Justice when difficult child was in the first time was much better in some ways but the state's Department of Juvenile Justice has fallen udner fed doj's radar with reports of sex abuse, failing policies, fraudalant docs, etc. Also, I believe the person in charge of all Department of Juvenile Justice's csu side must not be doing squat. Still, some POs are pretty decent and much more knowledgable. Of the four that have been in our lives for any length of time, we are 2 for 2. The first was exxcellent but they move her up into a state position out of local csu because she was so good and knowledgable.

 

[klmno]

And now I just rec'd an email from him stating they had all reviewed my letter and were proceeding as the current parole plan is written and trying to make it sound like I'm not cooperating. Not a single one of my questions were answered, yet he always states and writes to contact him with any questions. This whole thing is a joke and a setup to violate us.

Now my gut reaction is to respond to him saying that it would do no good to ask any questions because he will not give an answer in writing and he's continuing to break the law in these other ways so I will proceed with my complaints against him. One of my questions was that what was the motivation for doing all this if if wasn't going to get difficult child out earlier than his latest possible release date anyway. He's starting to set this up for reason to pursue difficult child not ever coming back to live at home but if he does come back to live with me, they will violate one or both of us in a heartbeat. This was the way that probation officer was when difficult child got committed the first time. I'll just have to move. It's an emergency at this point. That's the only way to get difficult child a different PO apparently.

 

[InsaneCdn]

Now my gut reaction is to respond to him saying that it would do no good to ask any questions because he will not give an answer in writing and he's continuing to break the law in these other ways so I will proceed with my complaints against him.

Do NOT respond. At all.
Just proceed with complaints.
If you respond and tell them you will be complaining, they will start tampering with their evidence.

If moving is a workable solution, pursue in parallel.

 

[klmno]

OK, here's the body of the letter I attached to that email last night:

Thank you for sending me something in writing as the law requires. I have looked over the Parole
Supervision Plan you sent me today via email and have some questions and comments as listed
below.

1) Is the counselor being provided a licensed mental health professional qualified to provide
mental health counseling as recommended by difficult child's mental health therapist at 'Department of Juvenile Justice facility'?

2) Will you be conducting a new Mental Health Transition Plan meeting and forming a new plan in
accordance with Chapter ### of the State Administrative Code
now?

3) Please define, in terms of measurable goals, how often difficult child is to have supervision contacts
by each specific person, what the measurable requirements are that you will be using to
determine an increase in difficult child's level of understanding about his behaviors having a negative
impact on the community, problem solving/decision making skills, and my parental support,
whatever particular life skills training you are requiring and how that will be measured, what the
criteria is for the substance abuse relapse prevention (how, how often, by what provider), what
the specific requirements are for family counseling in order for you and us to determine
compliance requirements. (Typically, a PO doesn't include things like understanding, skills, and
emotional support in a supervision plan so it's not clear to me how to determine if we'd be in
compliance or not. If you can't define requirements, please remove them.)

4) You agreed at our last face-to-face meeting that requiring an additional anger management
course would not be necessary because the objective was for difficult child to receive follow-up to the
anger management course he just successfully completed at Bon Air, per his treatment team's
recommendations, not to go thru an entirely new type of program; please remove that from the
requirements and provide an in-home professional who can address this or allow this to be
addressed in private counseling, as we agreed to at our last meeting

5) You have listed difficult child's projected release from the detention reentry program as May 16, 2012,
but you lead us both to believe he could be out earlier than that and you wrote 'on or before
May 16, 2012' in the Placement section; since May 16, 2012, was difficult child's late release date
from direct care and he was motivated to earn his way out of direct care earlier than that and
did so with their approval for release but still wasn't released from direct care, could you please
clarify in writing the following things:

a. Is there actually any way he can be released from incarceration back into my custody earlier than
May 16, 2012, so he can have a smoother transition into a DOE school in 'public' before it is so
close to the end of the semester, thereby only being able to obtain two credits at most this semester?
(They have him taking art and PE at the detention center and he has already earned credits for those
and cannot earn more for them. If they change his schedule around, he will not be able to earn any
credits. Also, I would like for difficult child to work when school is out of session for the summer and this
would make it difficult to find summer employment at that late date.)

b. If there a way is for him to be released from the detention reentry program prior to May 16, 2012,
what is the criteria in measurable goals? I understand there are objectives somewhere, but we don't
know what they are or what is expected of us to meet them in terms of measurable goals in order for
us to know if we are meeting compliance requirements or not; for example, requiring good behavior at
the detention center for 3 weeks and meeting with counselor you are providing 1 time per week for 1
month, in order to be released. State law ### requires every provider of residential
services that is overseen by the Department of Juvenile Justice to provide the criteria for residents to
complete the program and conditions under which they may be discharged before completing the
program, in writing, to both the resident and the legal guardian. You keep pointing out that this is a 30
to 90 day program, however everything I read leads me to believe it's 30 to 60 days, and Mr. G at
xxx Juvenile Services informed me that you are to provide the criteria because they currently
are acting under a Memorandum of Agreement for housing the juvenile only. difficult child and I would like to
see in writing what the criteria is, in measurable goals, for release from detention reentry in 30 days,
as state law requires. Additionally, we are supposed to be informed of policies and criteria regarding
such things as day and weekend passes and measurable goals in order for difficult child to earn them. When
will we get this in writing?

c. If there is no means to get your and Department of Juvenile Justice's team approval for release prior to difficult child's late release date,
then why were you leading us to believe he could? Could you explain to us why, if you are
writing the criteria for a 30 to 60 or 30 to 90 day detention reentry program, you are not writing
criteria and working toward a plan that would be possible to complete in 30 days and why were
you telling me his release date would "depend on how he does"?

d. What is the motivator to do any requirements outside of those typically expected while in direct
care if you won't recommend release prior to his late release date anyway?

6) Doesn't the Level 4 supervision level have to be either mandatory or discretionary, and if it's
discretionary doesn't it require proper approval?

7) Why does your plan seem to focus so much on changing the way I'm managing my son when
difficult child has been incarcerated and only been in my custody a combined total of approximately 6
weeks in the past three years (since he turned 14yo), there are mental health documents
stating the problems that indicate issues other than inappropriate parenting, you are not
aware of how things transpired when difficult child was released from Department of Juvenile Justice the first time because you
declined when I suggested that you talk with the parole officer from abc County, instead
of just focusing on the recommendations from difficult child's treatment team at 'Department of Juvenile Justice facility' and the
previous mental health professionals who evaluated and treated difficult child?

I'm sure you are aware that the role and responsibilities of a parole officer are not the same as those
of a parent and while our overall objectives might be the same, until appropriate measurable goals are
written and conveyed to us, I don't know how anyone could be expected to meet them.

Here's his response via email today:

The below email has been reviewed by all parties and a decision has been made to proceed with the Parole Plan as written. As always your opinion and recommendations have been considered and it is our feeling that difficult child's needs can best be addressed in the current Parole Plan. Your support and cooperation is desired. At this time, we must focus on the needs of difficult child and the department's mission. Please be advised that difficult child's case is being managed in collaboration with the Department of Juvenile Justice case manager, who oversees the Detention Re-entry Program. Our desire is for reunification between difficult child and you to occur and for difficult child to transition back into your home; therefore, your cooperation and support is needed for this to be successful. I will continue to keep you abreast of difficult child's adjustment and any scheduled meeting which require your participation. My hope is that you will work with the ABC Services as they are an approved Department of Juvenile Justice service provider. A meeting with difficult child, you, and representatives from the ABC Services is being planned for Monday. You will be contacted today by XXX, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, regarding that meeting.

The Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) he's saying isn't the person who will be doing the counseling because he'd given me the actual counselor's name for that. Anyway, the point is that he does lip service. If you were familiar with parole requirements, you'd be able to see that this is a flippin joke. Doesn't he sound so nice and trying to address my concerns yet when I ask him or tell him concerns, they go nowehere. And he's not doing what he's supposed to be doing. I still think it's a control trip he and his super are on. I have to respond because the lady from the service left a VM on my home phone that I didn't get until I got home from work and I tried to return the call a little before 5:00 but she'd already left for the day. I don't want him turning that into me avoiding her contact. I think if they are in agreement with the current plan, they can't possibly know the right way but PO is using this now ina passive agressive way to keep me riled up and the only way to ever make him and his super happy is to become their doormat but I tried that with the PO difficult child had before he got committed the first time and that's when things escalated like crazy at home, I ended up losing my job, and difficult child got committed anyway.

I should also point out that I rec'd a letter from the Department of Juvenile Justice facility a few days ago that said my son's file had been sent to a center for case doctor handling- I don't think that's the same thing as difficult child having a case manager or that person would have had to contact me by now.

I need to gather all this recent communication in writing, print it out, and send a follow-up package to fed DOJ. Lord help me if they say it's a state issue, meaning the only option would be an attny to take Department of Juvenile Justice to court.

 

[TerryJ2]

Sounds a bit like our frustration with-difficult child's science fair project: how to determine measurable goals.
You'd think adults who are hired as professionals would have a teensy bit of a clue.
You're doing great!

 

[DaisyFace]

K--

You know that I have supported you through this ordeal, and I understand the PITA of dealing with incompetent agencies (BELIEVE me, I understand!)...

but I think you have adopted a "See You in H*ll !" negotiation style at this point - and those usually go down in flames.

I don't see anything particularly charming, patronizing or disrespectful in the PO's response to you. It reads like a fairly neutral business communication to me.


I also agree with Buddy. This sounds like a systemic issue. So in a sense, even if you WIN, you won't win...

I think, if moving is a real option - you should go for it!

Good luck!

 

[DDD]

Thanks for sharing the attachment. Guess I completely missed that inning when I read your email response. So glad that there were specific questions addressed.

I'm hoping that the next meeting will provide you with a sense of forward momentum. Certainly your frustration is understandable but Department of Juvenile Justice etc. is "government" and as such it does not operate the way private enterprise does. I 100% agree with your analysis of the system faults. on the other hand I'm hoping it will be possible to work through this complex problem where you are. We've had more than one PO and you've had four. Both of us know that "a change" does not mean "an improvement".

You have fought yourself back into the workforce after struggling to survive. You have reached a comfort level with you job and your coworkers. You have established a home again. All of those achievements are examples for difficult child that no matter how dark things look...with dedication you can find some sunlight. I will not be part of the chorus encouraging you to make another fresh start. I'm convinced that move would neither be in your best interests nor difficult children best interests.

Maybe...just maybe...this next meeting will outline specifics in at least one area. My personality is "goal" oriented and I also don't do well with smoke and mirrors. That part I completely get. But there's an old expressions that refers to "known enemies being preferred to unknown enemies". You have a good idea of who the players are in this serious cause. You know what hasn't worked. Fingers crossed that Monday you will be able to hang on to one positive identifiable goal. I'm not big into prayers but you and difficult child are included in mine. Hugs. DDD

 

[klmno]

I'm going to pursue moving. I can be 1 mile from where I am now and be in a different jurisdiction. The contract got extended and my job is currently secure. However, I'm still looking for a more permanent type employment. I had a phone interview earlier this week and it sounded promising but still "iffy". There is a loophole in my lease that I had the landlord include so I think I can get out of it. If not, I'll just have to be a couple of mos extra rent but that's cheaper than an attny to take on Department of Juvenile Justice and still be left with this PO.

DDD- I understand what you're saying but as always, you have an undying faith that people in the system are well-intentioned, and that's not crriticism because it shows your faith in people and positive outlook. I, on the other hand, have suffered too many consequences for trying to hang in there with a PO in the past after being told by 2 attnys and 1 policeman that the PO was doing everything she could to find a way to violate both me and difficult child. Further, difficult child's own def attny told me if I filed any type of complaint about that first GAL, that GAL wouldn't stop until I lost custody of difficult child. This PO/his super are setting us up and I fear it's to find a way to get to court and "prove" difficult child should go to a group home or half way house but they are going to wait until the end of this 90 days, which maxes out difficult child's sentence. Maybe it's that different from state to state but as I mentioned before, we are 2 for 2 and some of them really will tthrow your kid under the bus in a sec. difficult child would never have been committed to Department of Juvenile Justice the first time if we'd had a different PO and GAL. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I would never feel trust in this PO or his super.

The way this parole plan was written, it wasn't stated to comply with counselor, it was that these goals PO wrote have to be achieved - it doesn't say how, how often etc. That means if the counseling doesn't work, even if difficult child and I comply and he hasn't broken a law or curfew, etc, he or we could still be violated. Oh-- and who determines if it works? PO Now, keep in mind this is the person claiming the group home could have difficult child released in 30 days when in reality, it was a long term post-d program. There's just too much that is snakey about this guy and his super. He's like the wolf in sheep's clothing. The form itself has a column where it says to state "how often, how, etc) and he still just put in what the goals were that he should have been putting someplace else. So we are left with nothing but jump when he says jump and 'maybe' he won't violate us. BS. That's what drove the stress level up to crisis mode before difficult child went off the deep end and I lost everything.

And, the day pass he said he'd request....no answer. I emailed and asked about it this morning. Still no answer. So my comment about him sound nice- yes, the email did sound nice. But he;'s not following thru with anything he says he will- like even answering a question.

On a brighter note, I rec'd a certificate of excxellence for difficult child from the school at the Department of Juvenile Justice facility. That should make him proud. I think I might frame it for him to hang in his br.

 

[InsaneCdn]

If you only have to move a mile to switch jurisdictions... is there any way to find out if this next jurisdiction is better or worse before you move?

Not trying to jinx anything, but... you know how it goes sometimes...

 

[DDD]

Are you 100% positive that jurisdiction "has to be changed" when there is such a thin line? Where we live the system is divided into counties but they often agree to overlaps between offices. Since difficult child is now placed I wouldn't trust that his PO assignment wouldn't be approved like an interagency agreement. Do be thorough and cautious. Of course you have to do what you think is best. Had to smile at your comment about me being trusting. Uh...no, I don't trust anyone in the system. Sure wish I did. on the other hand I only "bucked" once and there was extremely well planned and absolutely necessary. I did it within the system and with complete politeness....although visions of violence were flying in my head. As I've stressed before I do understand, sigh. Hugs DDD

 

[klmno]

I work with a guy who had a son on probation over there and he said they were a lot better than the next jurisdiction his son ended up in- which wasn't the one I'm in but he said he knows there is as much difference as night in day from one to another. My boss told me that the jurisdiction I live in is known for having a corrupt government, but he didn't know anything about csu. I called the jurisdiction I'm thinking about moving to and they said PO would be required to transfer difficult child's case to them if I moved there. Even if they are as bad as far as policies (or lack thereof), the hx PO and I have that has left me so untrusting of him won't be there - IOW- there won't be any personal vendetta if we are starting fresh with someone new in a different jurisdiction. I definitely think this turned into a vendetta against me when they perceived my walking into a mtg with a written list of hx problems, questions, and ideas, because PO had led me to believe it was a mtg to get all concerns on the table but told everyone else is was to back him up or something...anyway, they perceived that as me trying to take over or sometehing but PO hadn't done anything except tell me difficult child would come home with no transition, services, etc, and we all know how well that worked for difficult child last time, I don't know, that's just when koi hit tthe fan and that was back in Oct. I think they first took the postition that "ok then, we'll show her, we'll put him in a long term GH" but when that didn't work, now they are going to bombard us with services yet have no measurable goals/criteria for actually stepping down given to us and if I buck, which they are banking on, recommend that difficult child never comes home because I won't cooperate. To me, it's more than obvious.

 

[DDD]

Glad you're check and double checking and rechecking. I've seen very unethical things done in our jurisdiction and yours just sounds ripe for sandbagging. Meanwhile I assume you're getting your ducks in a row for Monday's meeting? Hugs DDD

 

[klmno]

And now this email was just forwarded to me by PO- it was written to him by some woman handling difficult child's case at Department of Juvenile Justice.

Based on our conversation earlier this week, we will respond to Ms.
klmno's request as it appears she has some questions about the furlough
process and the her son's placement in the Detention Program in general.
As you know, the process for the Detention Re-Entry cases has involved
their transfer from a juvenile correctional center to the detention home
with the supervision and services being provided by the detention
Counselor, Parole Officer, and the re-entry services Counselor. Since it
appears this case is no longer being supervised under the grant program,
we have been informed the services will be provided through your 294 funding (local funding) request in place of
the other provider.

The role of RDC in this process is to make referrals to the
Institutional Classification Review Committee and the Central
Classification Review Committee to request approval for furloughs or
other program related off site privileges for the resident upon
completion of his adjustment period and adequate progress on his
assigned services while in the detention. Since Mr. klmno's son is no longer
being served under the grant, we will not need to worry about the
furloughs related to the program counselor but will address the request
for furloughs with his mother. These may be requested after the resident
has made a positive adjustment to the detention and is involved in and
making progress on the services designated for him by the CSU and the
service provider assigned to him.

Since I have been out of the office this week in meetings and will be
away next week. Please let me know via e-mail when Mr. klmno's son and his
mother have begun these services, with an update on his progress so we
can begin the furlough request in a timely manner. The ICRC is held on
Thursday and the CCRC the following Tuesday, so we will need this
information in time to prepare the referrals for the committees and for
the approval process to be completed.

Please let me know if this information helps to clarify things for Ms.
klmno, as it appears she continues to have some questions. Upon my
return on 3/12/12, we can discuss the status of the case and possibly a
target timeframe for the furlough based on his status at that time.

Also, let me know of any questions about this process.

I sent back this email so you can tell me if this one sounds attacking, too.

Thank you for responding. Who is responsible for getting us the written criteria, in measurable terms, (how long it takes, what specific steps we need to do, etc,)
for completion of adjustment period and adequate progress for furloughs and release from the detention reentry? She hasn't stated that and you haven't stated that and Mr. G at the detention center said it was left up to you because XXX Juvenile Services doesn't have that criteria in place at this point. Your parole plan didn't state it and this is not to question who it's left up to, it's to see what the criteria is so we can know what we need to do and for how long in order to be compliant and start and complete the step down portion.

Now you ladies know how long and how often I've been asking for this. They all keep saying it's up to someone else. Based on my knowledge of how snakey PO is and the lady's reference to a conversation with PO earlier this week, it's up to him but she's trying to keep a unified front becuase that's what he always asks for- in every mtg, from every person. It's his habitual phrase. But now instead of any possible release in 30 days, difficult child will have been in this reentry program for at least 30 days before there is even a chance he'll get a day pass. Really, this was no step-down. He's getting strip searched 3 x/day.

Another interesting thing....they are actually housing difficult child in a nearby detention center under a Memorandum of Agreement with this jurisdiction for the fed grant. If they aren't using the fed grant anymore, who's going to pay that detention center? PO got the family counseling approved under local funding per my request to get reentry lady out of the picture. (Actually, I can't help but wonder if it was really because they caught wind that I included misuse of fed funding in my complaint to fed doj and they were wanting to run out of the picture.) Anyway, the local courts aren't going to pay for difficult child to stay in detention because the local court didn't charge him with anything - it has to be either state or fed money because difficult child is still in the custody of state Department of Juvenile Justice. I can't help but wonder how that will play out with the local detention and funding authorities.

And does this means I am to request the furlough but it has to be after PO has said difficult child has made adequate progress?

 

[klmno]

You snuck in me, DDD! After a few phone tags, I talked with the lady from these new services on the phone this afternoon. We have a mtg for Monday morning and PO will there. It will be at the detention center and the lady said it was to review their type of services and to answer my questions and then it was up to me whether or not to choose their services. In reality, it will be presented as either I sign the papers or I'm being uncooperative and difficult child will never step-down. I'mnot too worried about it- they are more qualified than reentry lady. This coordinator is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and the counselor would be a male who is working toward being a licensed professional counselor, but he is not currently licensed. That's a step up from a coordinator and 'counselor' who has a 4 year human services degree but no formal counsling experience, much less a license. But, I'll just have to go thru the mtg, ask questions, take paperwork and tell them I'll respond soon after thinking about it. I'm not signing squat until I'm sure I can move or not move. I know it might put difficult child on hold for a month to move, but that's a far cry better than being stuck with this PO for a year or more. Just like with that probation officer, he wouldn't say when difficult child would ever get off parole either and they can keep them on it until the kid is 21 if they want. I'd prefer being in limbo for a mo and ending up with a chance of success over this any day.

See, this is the way PO works and it might sound paranoid but I've seen him do this 2-3 times now. He acts like it's not up to him when I ask questions and he can't answer them- no matter what it is- and acts all nice and friendly when it's just the 2 of us, usually, but not always. Then, he always wants a mtg and has led me to think it's to answer my questions (remeber the first one in Oct?), and in the meantime, he has gone to all other parties and say I'm not cooperating and he needs a unified front. Then, I get lamblasted at the mtg for not going along with what he wanted. But he never gives the measurable goals and has always had it presented to me that it was for the purpose of reviewing my concerns, stauts, etc. So round and round we go. I swear, some of these people I've run across in the system are more dysfunctional than the families.

I can read between the lines and figure out that since other kids who've been put on reentry are getting day passes within 2-3 weeks, PO told me he'd request one then had a conversation with this lady at Department of Juvenile Justice about him thinking difficult child should have an adjustment period and we start services and get further along with that first but he needs a unified front to get me to understand that. This is how he works.

I was ticked this morning and fed up with it all so I forwarded the whole string of those emails and attachments of the parole plan to Department of Juvenile Justice director and 2 other higher ups in Department of Juvenile Justice and 2 people on the board of juvenile justice and asked them if they could review this and tell me who was responsible for telling me the measurable criteria for all of it because the Department of Juvenile Justice facility said it was po, the detention center staff said it was po, po says it's detention center and Department of Juvenile Justice. And we still don't have it. And I asked them to verify if this was their idea of an appropriate parole plan. Then I forwarded a copy of that to fed doj as additional info.

 

[JJJ]

Is there a date that once it arrives they have to release difficult child without putting him on probation/parole???

 

[klmno]

No, because if he had misbehaved and gotten higher sanctions and refused to do his 'treatment' in the Department of Juvenile Justice facility, the longest they are able to keep a kid incarcerated is 3 years unless it's manslaughter or murder. Then after 3 years, he would still be on parole. They can keep them on parole until they are 21. Now, there was something I read in the guidelines for sentencing once, that Department of Juvenile Justice has adopted and it's law that they sentence IAW with these guidelines, that says a kid can opt to do his max stay and then come out without parole but I'll have to read that again and see if that means the 3 years or the max of the length of stay he was given. He was given 15 to 21 months, I think. They are maxing him out on that even though he did what he had to do in order to get approval for release in Feb. May will be 21 mos. But none of that matters if this state's Department of Juvenile Justice doesn't care about conforming to the law, no one in the state will do anything about it, and fed doj won't step in because it's state law. But, I'm trying to get fed doj to step in on the basis that these state laws are our citizens' ways of making sure our fed constitutional rights are upheld. OUr Department of Juvenile Justice system is so behind the times it's pathetic. But most citizens in this state don't care so it's never something the politicians/legislators seem to spend much time on- as far as accountability for the Department of Juvenile Justice system. difficult child says he's never heard of any kid coming out of Department of Juvenile Justice without being on parole and honestly, he gives me more accurate info about the system than attnys or POs. Remeber how they swore to me difficult child would only be in less than a year this time? But, I could recheck those guidelines and request a copy of the court order to this commitment to see if it requires parole. The judge said it verbally in court but sometimes that doesn't always get written in the court order and nobody remembers what a judge says (except the parties) a couple of years later.

What is so frustrating is all the well-intentioned funding from fed gov and well-intentioned laws that could be so helpful if they came to fruitation as they were intended but ITRW, you get people who don't care and use that stuff to play power trips instead of really trying to help a kid succeed.

 

[buddy]

and will he ever say he is making adequate progress. Through all of this I am just amazed at how they are treating this whole case as a kid who is SOOOO dangerous to society and needs all this extra stuff before he can be let lose on all of us out here in the real world. I get what he did was bad. But really??? I wonder if a murderer going on parole has such a hard time getting out once his sentence is DONE.