Improving Youth Justice in Springfield Township

• Kids make mistakes.

  Kids make mistakes. That's where you have to start when you're talking about youth justice, whether in Springfield Township or anywhere else. As I walk from house to house meeting members of our community, I hear repeatedly that you can't understand children's mistakes until you have become a parent. You have to learn how developing minds work (and sometimes don't). I agree with that sentiment. My sons are still relatively young (five and eight), so the mistakes they make are minor. But I am aware that as children grow, their environments, friends, and options change. The opportunities for making poor choices increase as they tackle challenging situations with limited perspective and experience.

  It's a reality that sometimes those situations end up in the District Court. The mistake could be experimentation with drugs or alcohol, a fight with a classmate, or any number of other missteps. As adults responsible for shaping young people, we have to find a balance between teaching a lesson and ruining a young person's life with an oversized punishment.

  Let me be clear: Some kids commit serious and violent crimes. In such cases, prosecution through the criminal justice system is unavoidable. But a first offense or a minor slip by a good kid is different.

• Information Wants to Be Found

  Before the age of the Internet, a kid could plead guilty to a minor offense and put the matter behind him or her, hopefully having learned a lesson simply by facing the criminal justice system in all its fearful uncertainty.

  But we cannot lose sight of the fact that if a kid accepts a guilty plea, that means he is a Convicted Criminal. That label is a matter of public record and will eventually be searchable in public databases. In some cases youth records are eventually expunged but, as we have learned in every area of our lives, once information is online, it pretty much stays there forever. Nowadays employers and colleges investigate their applicants online, exploring social networking sites and public databases. If someone has a criminal conviction in their past, these gatekeepers to their future are going to find it. At the very least, the individual may have to answer some very awkward interview questions. More likely, they won't get student loans, they won't get the job, they won't have the future they may desire.

  That's a very high price to pay for a stupid teenage mistake.

• Second Chances

  I believe the District Court exists to solve problems, not just to punish. As adults, we must acknowledge that honestly pleading guilty to a minor offense could handicap a child for life. In many cases, we have to take the opportunity to teach kids important life lessons by means other than a criminal conviction. What tools do we, as a community, have at our disposal? As District Judge I can suspend adjudication of a criminal matter and put in place an alternative order of community service and intense supervision. So long as a child complies with my order, stays out of trouble, and focuses in school, we will know that he or she has learned the lesson we're trying to teach and the criminal case can be dropped. (For kids who don't take the opportunity to grow and learn from their mistakes, the criminal case remains open and criminal prosecution is' available as a last resort.)

  Over the past year, I have spoken with District Judges in the surrounding jurisdictions about the systems they have in place for dealing with young offenders. We are fortunate that there are some interesting and effective programs in the townships around us that we can learn from.

  Since children rarely find themselves in trouble in only one area, the first thing we need is regular communication between the court and the schools. In Cheltenham, the District Judge meets with the school district monthly to follow the progress of kids who have come before him. I have already opened up lines of communication with the school district in the course of my campaign. When elected I will establish a regular system of communication so that students can't slip through the cracks.

  I will build relationships with religious institutions and other organizations in Springfield Township to identify community service opportunities and resources for oversight of children. In Upper Dublin, that kind of existing relationship ensures that the judge can order community service and know that there won't be a lag before the youth can begin doing the work, rather than spending time searching for a viable placement.

• Conclusion

  Kids make mistakes. Our responsibility as parents and adults is to make sure that those mistakes do not define their lives. It's cliché to say “it takes a village to raise a child” but in this case, it is true. Problems do not start with the courts and they do not end with the courts. But I want to ensure that our court is part of the solution, because otherwise it's part of the problem.

  We have a wonderful community in Springfield Township. My goal in seeking to become Magisterial District Judge is to support our quality of life and ensure that members of our next generation have access to the opportunities they deserve.