Intake & Assessment Centers - New Threat to Child and Parent Rights

I received this note from a former zero tolerance advocate. Her name is Shelley. After reading what she had to say, I thought others should see it as well so below is Shelley's warning about the next threat to rights of children and their parents.

Shelley's Warning:

Heads up parents - particularly if you live in Colorado, Kansas and Florida. Community assessment centers, juvenile intake and assessment centers, or whatever they are called where you live, are not all that they seem. I know these three states have them. There are probably more. I live in an affluent suburban community - Johnson County, Kansas.

Before I begin, let me make a confession. A few years ago, I went before my School Board and argued in favor of zero tolerance. I was tired of reading teen obituaries and thought it would help. Since they rarely gave kids a second chance anyway, I thought why not make it simple. A couple of weeks, and a few zero tolerance nightmares from parents later, I did a 180 and have been outspoken against ZT ever since.

One of the areas that parents know little about are these centers that are being set up around the country. The premise sounds good. Get the police officers back on the streets when kids are arrested. Provide an expert to identify abuse. Get kids help quickly. Sounds good just like zero tolerance did before I learned more.

How do intake and assessment centers relate to zero tolerance and the schools? Well, I'll explain how I've heard it works in my county and you might start to get the picture. Whenever a child comes to the attention of the legal system because of an alleged crime, Kansas law says they have to be assessed by an Intake and Assessment worker. What kinds of "crimes" you ask? You know the drill. A few true cases - arguing in the hall, taking french fries from a lunch mate, bra snapping, a school yard shove in self defense. The ZT stupid kid stuff as well as real crimes.

Now if a child has engaged in one of these "alleged crimes" at school, the parent gets a call from the intake counselor. "Hello, Mary. Johnny was in an incident at school yesterday and you need to make an appointment to come in and see us." What Mary does not realize is that when she takes Johnny in, he is taken into another room where he may be asked up to 29 PAGES of questions. For Example...

Tell me about what brought you here? Family income? Social Security number? Ever smoked pot? Had a beer? Do your parents argue a lot? Have your parents had mental health counseling? Do your siblings use drugs? Have you ever had sex without using a condom? On and on and on. Johnny is used to taking tests and Mary has taught him to be honest so he figures it is no big deal. Mary has no idea all of this information is going into the computerized information system.

After a conference among Mary, Johnny, and the Intake "counselor", they leave thinking all went well. Until they get the letter. Either "volunteer" for diversion or we'll see you in court. Whether it is what I call stupid kid stuff or whether it is a real crime, would you like a 29 page database compiled on your family based on a kid's answers? Would you be pleased to know that, from this interview, the prosecutor gets a report that provides information for charging decisions?

While labeled confidential, information MAY be shared with, among others, prosecutors and the schools. Parents (on the other hand) have asked for their child's answers and have been told no!

Please educate yourself and find out before, not after, your child walks through the gateway of the juvenile justice system - the assessment center. Find out if your community has one and if schools are sending students over there. In my county alone, my leaders came up with a plan for 6,000 children in the Year 2000. 1 or 2 thousand will probably come from school incidents. This shift in responsibility from school and family to the juvenile injustice system is, to me, alarming. Parents cannot get the information they could have under FERPA, but school employees may share information back and forth with intake workers. My understanding is that privacy laws don't apply because, when it becomes a criminal investigation or adjudication, the rules change.

If you are worried about your child, get help privately, use a home drug test kit, monitor their behavior, ground them forever - whatever it takes to get them back on track before their futures are derailed. I was lucky that my child never ended up at the intake and assessment center but we instructed him that his answer to authorities was to be, "I can't answer questions until I get my Mommy or my Daddy. I need to call them now."

If you get a call for a "free assessment", find out all you can before you go. There is more to intake and assessment than what they will tell you. As a parent, you need to know.

With Hope & Faith ...

Shelley