Children sentenced to probation in juvenile delinquency cases, more often than not, are required to perform many hours of community service work.
There are limited resources available for these children to meet this requirement or to have their probation violated for not satisfying their sentences. And they compete with those children who are not on probation who also need numerous community service hours to graduate from high school and those children who are just wonderfully charitable in nature, who perform this work for all the right reasons, from the heart.
As a Broward County Circuit Court Judge who sits on the Juvenile Delinquency bench, I seek creative solutions to this dilemma, to find or develop community service hours that are available, positive, constructive, and educational, where possible, rather than mind-numbing and physical…alternatives and/or supplements to what is already in place, as budgetary constraints and other concerns limit our choices.
Factoring in that transportation is especially difficult for young, minor children who may or may not have adults available, locating community service hours in different areas of the county is especially challenging. So, too, is taking into consideration, different children’s needs and abilities.
Please see the attached: mentoring, educational tutoring, counselling, positive teamwork/fresh air setting, thought provoking essays/interviews, and themed artwork.
I hope YOU will share with me any and all ideas THAT YOU HAVE and programs THAT YOU KNOW OF that are available to “our kids “, because REGARDLESS OF THE SENTENCE, IN THE END, IF THE CHILDREN DON’T WIN, NO ONE WINS.
Respectfully submitted,
Your Judge, Merrilee Ehrlich
