Luzerne County Probation Reaching Out to Schools
This fall the Luzerne Juvenile Probation Office began outreach to county schools, seeking to build a new partnership for the children they jointly serve. In the past, county schools were encouraged by the county’s corrupt judges to use the Juvenile Probation Office as their disciplinary program, thus ensuring a constant stream of children that the judges could send away and from whom they could profit.

This outreach was conducted through a partnership with the Luzerne County Juvenile Justice Task Force, a statewide group of state and county level stakeholders working to develop a comprehensive response to the issues related to the scandal.  The Taskforce has been identifying community, system, and individual needs; securing resources to meet those needs; and keeping members current on developing legal issues.

As part of the outreach, three forums were held on December 10 and 15, 2010 and were hosted by the Luzerne Intermediate Unit and Wilkes University. More than 100 individuals attended the forums to open a dialogue between the Juvenile Court and the school system. The goal is to familiarize people with the juvenile justice system, update them on changes made as a result of the scandal and connect adults with agencies that can help children at risk avoid the actions that land them in court.

The forums also highlighted the numerous advancements made throughout the Luzerne County Juvenile Court. Panel members touted several program enhancements including:

• A Juvenile Delinquency Roundtable to address issues and to inspire cooperation and coordination within the county;
• The Youth Aid Panel Program to assist in the diversion of youth from formal juvenile court proceedings;
• The expanded Public Defender’s Juvenile Unit that now includes additional attorneys and a social worker assigned solely to the Juvenile Court;
• An added Assistant District Attorney whose focus is on juvenile justice.

There are plans to arrange meetings between task force members and teachers during state mandated “in-service” days, when students have off but teachers come to school for training.

Outreach to Families Planned
The Luzerne County Juvenile Probation Office is planning activities to help reach out to families and get their input on the juvenile justice reform going on in Luzerne County.   Kathy Stocki, a family advocate from The Advocacy Alliance (MHAPA’s affiliate in NE PA), Scranton, is a key member of the Education Subcommittee of the Taskforce, which has been working with Probation in outreach activities.  Ms. Stocki has been providing the family voice and perspective and will assist in outreach for families.  The Advocacy Alliance funds her to provide advocacy for Luzerne County families.

Luzerne County Juvenile Probation Officer Theresa Kline suggested that one strategy for reaching families is to meet with parents on school orientation days, when students and parents are invited to schools, particularly middle schools, because of the transition from elementary grades. Ms. Kline also suggested that the upcoming creation of Youth Aid Panels, a group of community volunteers who meet with first-time juvenile offenders rather than having them face court, presents a good opportunity to connect with parents when the program is unveiled to the public in coming months.

More Information
The Advocacy Alliance, Child and Family Mental Health Advocacy Program (Northeastern PA only)
Website
Email- info@theadvocacyalliance.org
Phone– 1-877-315-6855

Luzerne County News Coverage (Times Leader)
Calling All Parents, Luzerne County Juvenile Justice System Wants to Talk to You
In aftermath of ‘kids for cash,’ creation of youth aid panel touted

Yesterday, in a 13-1 vote the PA Senate Judiciary Committee passed Senate Bill 873, introduced last May by Senator Lisa Baker, which mandates legal representation for juveniles in PA courts.  This marks the General Assembly’s first step in mandating an un-waivable right to counsel for juveniles. The Bill now moves to the Senate floor for a vote later this session.

Read more here about the history of this bill and the Juvenile Law Center’s longtime efforts to ensure counsel for juveniles.

An article in the September/October issue of The Pennsylvania Lawyer, a magazine published by the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA), looks at the legal community’s response to the Interbranch Commission Report. In the Aftermath, by Don Sarvey, the magazine’s editorial director, walks readers through the report’s recommendations related to PBA and discusses the organization’s next steps. He quotes Gretchen A. Mundorff, PBA president, who says, “This [scandal] has left a scar on the whole [legal] system’s integrity and we have to marshal all our resources to restore that integrity. Definitely the PBA has a role to play here, and we will step up and do it.” Read the full article here.

United States District Judge Richard Caputo issued an order late Wednesday denying nearly all of the defendants’ motions to dismiss, thus paving the way for the Kids-For-Cash federal civil lawsuit to move forward. Attorneys for Juvenile Law Center and Hangley Aronchick Segal and Pudlin, who represent the children, were pleased with the judge’s rulings.

“This means that the plaintiffs’ claims have legal merit and the case is ready to proceed,” said Marsha Levick, Deputy Director and Chief Legal Counsel for Juvenile Law Center. “We are prepared to do whatever is necessary to finally obtain justice for the children and families who were harmed in this travesty of justice.”

Read more.

As part of the efforts to right the wrongs of in the Luzerne County Juvenile Justice corruption scandal, the County announced on August 24 that they will fund a new juvenile unit within their Public Defender’s Office.  At a news conference, Chief Public Defender Al Flora announced the unit will have three full-time attorneys, and a caseworker.  The county scandal centered on judges taking money for placing children in a residential facility they had secret ties to. Most of the children should have received community treatment and this injustice occurred in large part because they did not have proper if any representation.  The new unit will serve all children brought before the juvenile court.

Highlights of the new unit include:

• Attorneys will receive extensive training on representing children.
• Parental income will not be considered.
• Children will have the same attorney for the duration of case.
• The unit will comply with nationally recognized standards of no more than 200 cases a year for each attorney.
• Attorneys will continue the new policy already in place that they meet with the child and family before the hearing, and have contact through all juvenile justice processes.  This is a change from the old practice that when a child did have representation, they often met with their attorney for the first time only minutes before the hearing.

Additionally, it was announced that the children will now have a separate waiting room at court.  Previously they shared the same room as all the adults coming in for court that day.

More Information:

• News Coverage of Press Conference
• Juvenile Defenders Association of Pennsylvania- Performance Guidelines for Quality and Effective Juvenile Delinquency Representation