Juvenile
problems typically family based, not drugs
By
Bob Robinson
GREENVILLE
– “My approach? If you’re not making money, you might as well
be sitting in jail.”
Darke
County Juvenile Probation Judge Jason Aslinger made it clear he’s
tough on making sure parents pay their required child support.
“This
often upsets mothers,” he told Darke County Republican Men’s Club
members and guests Sept. 21. He spoke at the club’s regular monthly
meeting at the Brethren Retirement Community. “Unmarried men and
women have children. The mothers apply for benefits. They don’t
want the dads involved… they want a free ride.
“That’s
not going to happen.”
Every
Wednesday – the full day with hearings every 15 minutes – is
spent establishing child support or holding contempt hearings (not
paying support). But there is more involved in dealing with children
who come from broken homes, Aslinger noted.
“The
vast majority of our kids (delinquency problems) come from these
homes,” he said, adding that a significant percentage are repeat
offenders.
“We
had a boy yesterday on his 10th probation violation.”
Aslinger
said before he became a judge he often dealt with child custody or
support cases.
“A
lot of the kids are those of parents I’ve defended. It’s a sad
correlation.”
Aslinger
noted there was no formal tracking of what happens when a child
leaves the juvenile system at 18, but added his probation officers
often look at the jail to keep a pulse on what’s going on.
“When
we have kids turn 18 we know at some point we’ll see them on the
jail roster.”
Acknowledging
many adult offenders have a drug abuse background at some point,
Aslinger said surprisingly drugs are seldom an issue with juvenile
offenders.
“Family
problems are a much bigger issue,” he said. “We catch them with
marijuana all the time; serious drugs almost never.
“I’m
not sure why,” he added. “We do drug testing. It’s not there.
I’m still trying to figure out why.”
Aslinger
noted a major difference between dealing with adults in the Common
Pleas Court and his juveniles…
“The
judge will issue a sentence (probation or prison) and the offender is
out of their hair. It’s more complicated for a juvenile judge.”
The kids remain the responsibility of the court.
The
most preferred option, according to Aslinger, is community service.
“We
implement community service a lot,” he said. If a child is not
likely to come back; if he or she does community service; and if
there are no problems for three months, the charge is dismissed.
“I
had an idea that we’re going to put into effect. We have a county
maintenance guy mowing our lawn now. We’re going to buy a narrow
push mower… just the blades… our grass is going to be golf course
perfect in the future.”
Aslinger
also noted that actions of the juvenile court are public record. It’s
to the juvenile’s advantage to have charges dropped.
There
are four places where delinquent juveniles can be sent.
One
of them is Michael’s Home. It will hold up to 10 boys and it’s a
complete program that can take anywhere from four to 12 months. It’s
staffed 24 hours a day and funded through the Commissioners’ Office
and where available, Medicaid.
Another
is West Central Juvenile Detention in Troy.
“They
sell a bed for $35,000 a year. We have five. That’s 150 bed days
per month. Toward the end of the month we look at the beds. If
someone needs in the program we check to see who we may be able to
let out early.”
A
third option is West Central Rehabilitation, also in Troy. Aslinger
noted they have a tremendous sex offender program and that the
majority of kids sent there come back successful.
The
last option is prison for juveniles (The Department of Youth
Services). They have 500 kids… “the worst of the worst,”
Aslinger said. “Mostly gangbangers.”
“Are
we going to send a Darke County kid into this den of bad kids, after
which they’ll come back to us? We really think twice about it.”
He added there is one about to be released… “We’re concerned.”
“Darke
County is great. We’re conservative. We have good morals. My job is
to keep it that way.”
Published
courtesy of The Early Bird
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