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Reaching Out
MICHIGAN JUDGES WRAP ARMS
— AND ARM OF THE LAW —
AROUND TROUBLED, AT-RISK YOUTH
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BY CHRIS HENNING
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“It truly takes a community to raise at-risk kids. We need to take these kids under our wings and help turn them around. Most of them simply need to know that somebody cares about them, that somebody loves them.”
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Judges holding court in class. Mentors teaching manners. Kids making commercials. A 21st century high school curriculum? Not quite, but rather some innovative and effective court-initiated programs in Michigan that are steering at-risk kids down a path of success and away from crime and its consequences.
“If I save even one kid, then I’ve accomplished something good,” says Judge John L. Conover, ’70, of the 67th District Court, Genesee County. Conover and judges like he are, indeed, accomplishing a lot of good by wrapping their own arms—not just the arm of the law—around troubled kids in their communities.
Conover says it’s usually a breakdown in the family unit that lands kids in court. “It truly takes a community to raise at-risk kids,” he says. “We need to take these kids under our wings and help turn them around. Most of them simply need to know that somebody cares about them, that somebody loves them.”
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“We try to find someone to come in and model appropriate behaviors, to be their mentor. If they’re not getting that from parents, then we need to step in.”
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Bay County Probate Judge Karen A. Tighe, ’76, concurs. “So often the kids’ behaviors can be traced to a parenting issue,” she says. “We try to find someone to come in and model appropriate behaviors, to be their mentor. If they’re not getting that from parents, then we need to step in. We all play a part.”
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Child and Family Advocacy Certificate Program Launched at MSU
New initiative linking law school, social work program holds promise for at-risk youth |
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Michigan State University-Detroit College of Law and the Michigan State University School of Social Work have launched a new joint certificate program that aims to “cross-train” lawyers and social workers. The program seeks to broaden the knowledge base of future lawyers, judges and social workers so they can craft more informed, “win-win” solutions for at-risk youth and families facing the court.
With start-up donations of $160,000 from the Chance at Childhood Foundation—a legacy derived from former Lt. Governor Connie Binsfeld’s child and family advocacy efforts—the Chance at Childhood Endowment of the Law and Social Work Initiative was launched at Michigan State University in December 1998. On executive order from Gov. Engler, an 18-member “Lt. Governor’s Commission on Children,” with representation from various disciplines, was charged with reviewing and recommending policies, procedures and law as they related to Michigan’s abused and neglected children. Close to 200 recommendations emerged; 63 became law.
Two recommendations focused on addressing cross-training needs at the university level, leading to the Child and Family Advocacy Certificate Program. The new program holds great promise for law and social work practitioners as well as at-risk youth and families, says Nannette Bowler, JD, director of the Chance at Childhood Program, sponsored by MSU-DCL and MSU School of Social Work.
“We’re trained in our own discipline and have a single-minded approach to things,” says Bowler. “But dealing with at-risk youth and families is a very complex area involving multiple disciplines. Often times the result is fragmented. This initiative will help lawyers understand the social component and social workers to understand the legal component. By having people communicate better with one another from a broadened base of knowledge, we’ll be providing a holistic approach for helping each child. Better advocacy will give us better solutions and, ultimately, a better life for them.”
The MSU-DCL certificate program is open to students already admitted to the JD program or the MSW program and in their second year of study. It’s designed to be completed concurrently with regular law and social work requirements.
Eventually, Bowler says, the initiative and certificate program will be expanded to include other disciplines by tapping into MSU’s medicine, nursing, psychology and education programs.
Currently five law students and four social work students are enrolled in the certificate program. Bowler says they hope to increase the numbers of enrollees, thus increasing the promise for Michigan’s at-risk youth.
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In court, Judge Conover often prescribes hands-on probation for first-time offenders—placing kids in service to the court itself or at the local senior center so they might learn respect, help others, and perhaps boost their own self-esteem and self-worth in the process. Out of court, Conover doesn’t just shed his robes and go home for the day; he shows up wherever kids do—at skate parks and Little League ball fields, at parades and festivals, even at the farmer’s market. “I think it’s critical that a judge be active in the community,” he says. “What we do outside the court is more important than what we do inside.”
On the bench, Conover sees a lot of first-time alcohol and drug offenders and some kids headed for bigger trouble. So “off the bench,” he spends a lot of time in schools, too, talking to teens about values, the law, the system, responsibility and respect. He brings students into court and lets them watch actual court proceedings. He participates in classroom-based DARE programs, even attending the youngsters’ DARE “graduation.” And he surrounds himself with people who share his commitment—probation officers with solid family backgrounds and good parenting skills, police officers who enjoy “catching” kids in the act of being “good.” A police officer trading-card incentive brings kids and cops face-to-face for a positive exchange.
“Off the bench” is where increasingly more judges are headed; another who has embraced the concept is Judge Michael A. Martone, ’79, of the 52-4 District Court, Oakland County. In 1993 Martone launched the Court in Schools: Critical Life Skills program. He says judges can have an impact by getting out of the courtroom. “We can use the prestige of this office to make change.”
Instead of bringing kids to court, though, Martone turns the table and conducts court in schools with real court hearings, real defendants and real sentences. Kids see drunk drivers, for example, handcuffed and hauled off to jail. “It’s the real deal,” he says.
When in-class court is out of session, Martone rolls up his sleeves and talks to kids about what they’ve seen, asking probing questions that frame crime and its consequences in a way youth typically don’t consider. “Once the robes come off,” he says, “I start coaching them through the game of life.”
Today, Martone’s two-session program is part of a broader initiative, which he also founded. Called Courageous Decisions,® it challenges youth to have the courage to make the right choices. The award-winning program, which includes in-school activities and televised sessions for youth, has been presented to schools nationwide via satellite hookup.
Martone uses coaching techniques during the in-school Courageous Decisions sessions, teaching students that success in life means knowing the rules, doing a proper risk analysis, being mindful of consequences and making the right choices in everything they do. Poignant—and sometimes startling—vignettes are shown on videos and include graphic scenarios and actual news clips of tragic events caused by risky behaviors. As the lights go down, the students’ antennae go up. “They get a wake-up call,” says Martone. “And they start thinking differently.”
This year Courageous Decisions was expanded to include a public service ad competition among middle school and high school students. A team from Troy High School developed the winning ad about drinking and driving. Their message, “One Drink,” was so courageous and persuasive that some local stations, citing its close-ups of bloodied victims as too graphic, refused to air it during daytime hours. But Martone says the ad sends a much-needed and reality-based message. “Students don’t always think of the consequences of their behavior, parents sometimes ignore risky behaviors, and otherwise good kids end up in court or in the morgue.”
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“Once the robes come off, I start coaching them through the game of life.”
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Substance abuse issues are common among youthful offenders in Bay County Probate Court Judge Tighe’s courtroom, too, but she also says she’s seen a slight decrease in the number of juveniles coming before her in recent years. She attributes that dip, in part, to early intervention and community-wide partnerships engendered by the court. A Fast Track program there links police, prosecutor and court in an effort to curb potentially harmful behaviors. Youth apprehended for “small” crimes, such as painting graffiti on walls, swiftly come face to face with the law. Their sentences, which may include making reparations such as repainting the wall they defaced, promote respect for other people and their property and help point out the consequences of such behavior before it’s too late to make a difference.
Two grant-funded programs in Bay County are helping troubled youth get long-term treatment right in their own community, as opposed to placement in other regions, even other states. Day treatment programs target youth headed toward more serious criminal behavior. “We’re trying to put the brakes on their behavior,” says Tighe, “so they don’t get involved in a higher level of crime.” The program comprises tutors from the intermediate school district, mentors who model good behaviors for kids, and experiential activities ranging from sailing and camping to drug and alcohol awareness.
A second program, and the first such program in Michigan, targets girls who are showing behaviors “that aren’t necessarily criminal, but are troublesome.” Tighe says the GREAT (Girls Rebuilding Expectations and Aspirations in Themselves) program is especially beneficial to girls who have had to parent themselves and aren’t learning appropriate health, social and sexual behaviors at home. “Anecdotally, we’re seeing that the program is slowing some of the behaviors that would otherwise put these girls at greater risk in the future,” says Tighe.
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In a lot of cases, the child’s behavior is really a reflection of home life.
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Probate Judge James E. Lacey, ’61, of the 3rd Judicial Circuit Court, Family Division, Wayne County, applauds such programs, admitting his is a jurisdiction whose size alone—one of the biggest in the country—presents unique problems. As many as 4,000 new child abuse and neglect cases and another 8,500 juvenile cases open annually.
Just the same, he says, “we have some good, effective programs right at our fingertips. Even in an area as large as we serve, jurists often know the troubled families. And in a lot of those cases, the child’s behavior is really a reflection of home life—parents using drugs, single [parents] without rent money. Unless we address the problems the parents have, we’re not likely to have an impact on youth behaviors.”
To that end, a drug court, community justice program, and local youth and family programs work hand-in-hand with the court to help families pull themselves up so they can effectively help their kids do the same. Lacey admits, though, that in a county of 1.5 million people, it’s a monumental task, yet one worth undertaking.
As these and other like-minded judges know, square pegs don’t fit into round holes—nor do the myriad problems involving at-risk youth come with cookie-cutter solutions. But they also know what does work—getting up off the bench, thinking outside the box and wrapping their arms—not just the arm of the law—around kids who need it most.
MSU-DCL/MSU School of Social Work Child and Family Advocacy Certificate Program
Students accepted into the Child and Family Advocacy Certificate Program are second-year law or MSW students who are completing core classes in their respective schools. Additionally, law students take a child-welfare policy class in the School of Social Work, and MSW students take a law school elective such as juvenile law or child advocacy. A yearlong integrative seminar follows, with law students and social work students concurrently enrolled and learning from each other. The seminar focuses on select issues of neglect and abuse, but from a multidisciplinary perspective. The final phase of the program includes an externship field placement pairing a law student and MSW student for a hands-on, community-based practicum.
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Featured in this Article...
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Honorable James E. Lacey
Probate Judge, Juvenile Division (1978-Present)
3rd Judicial Circuit Court, Family Division
Wayne County Probate Court
JD, Michigan State University-Detroit College of Law (1961)
Bachelor’s Degree, John Carroll University, Cleveland, Ohio
Experience:
Common Pleas Judge, Wayne County (1975)
Trial Lawyer, Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office
2nd Lieutenant, U.S. Army
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Honorable Michael A. Martone
Judge, 52-4 District Court, Oakland County
(1992-Present)
JD, Michigan State University-Detroit College of Law (1979)
Bachelor of Arts, Wayne State University
Experience:
Founder, Courageous Decisions® and Courage First Foundation™
Faculty, Michigan Judicial Institute
Advisor, Troy Families for Safe Homes
Member, Troy Community Coalition for the Prevention of Drug and Alcohol Abuse
Trustee, Troy Foundation for Educational Excellence
Lead Faculty, National Judicial College Courage to Live Programs
2000 U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Award
2000 National Commission Against Drunk Driving Adjudication Award
1999 National Crime Prevention Council Award for Excellence in Crime and Prevention
1999 Foundation for the Improvement of Justice Award
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Honorable John L. Conover
Judge, 67th District Court, Genesee County
(1993-Present)
JD, Michigan State University-Detroit College of Law (1970), with Highest Honors
Bachelor of Applied Arts, Michigan State University
Experience:
Attorney, Private Law Practice (1970-1993)
Chief Judge pro tempore, Genesee Court District Judges
(1993-1997)
Genesee County Circuit Court Referee (1983-1993)
Instructor, paralegal classes (1980-Present)
Coach, Davison High School Mock Court Trial Teams
Coach, Youth Sports
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Honorable Karen A. Tighe
Judge of Probate and Circuit Court Family Division
(1995-Present)
Bay County Probate Court
18th Judicial Circuit Court-Family Division
JD, Michigan State University-Detroit College of Law (1976)
Bachelor of Arts, University of Michigan
Experience:
Referee, Friend of the Court, 17 years
Administrator, Circuit Court, 4 years
Chair, Bay County Human Services Collaborative Council
Board of Directors, Bay Sail and Boys and Girls Club
Faculty, Michigan Judicial Institute
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