Pubdate: Thu, 27 Jun 2013
Source: News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Copyright: 2013 The News-Herald
Contact:  http://www.news-herald.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/305
Author: Tracey Read

JUVENILE DRUG CASES DOWN IN LAKE COUNTY

For the second year in a row, Lake County Juvenile Court drug cases were down.

Drug abuse cases for children decreased 16.7 percent last year 
compared to 2011, according to the court's 2012 annual report.

There were 210 charges filed for drug offenses in 2012, down from the 
252 reported in 2011.

"I hope the message is out that I am tough on drugs," Judge Karen Lawson said.

The judge said another possible reason for the decrease is that the 
court is starting to see the effects of recent changes to their 
probation system. In past years, probation officers were simply 
assigned per school.

"Now, we have low-risk, medium-risk and high-risk probation 
officers," she said. "There is more attention being paid to the 
high-risk child."

Lawson said service organizations such as Crossroads and Signature 
Health have more drug and alcohol programs now.

"There is more education and training out there," she said. "There 
are signs in the county about where to deposit your drugs. The AA 
community also does a lot to get the message out."

In 2011, there was a 3.8 decrease in juvenile drug cases over the 
previous year - a stark contrast to the 113 percent increase that was 
reported in 2010 over 2009.

"Obviously we are encouraged by two years in a row of a decrease in 
new drug cases being filed," said Chris Simon, the court's director 
of administration. "But what is really encouraging about this year is 
the fact that we now see a double-digit decline in those cases. We 
are optimistic that what we are doing, and what other Lake County 
agencies are doing, is working." The parents of juveniles aren't 
faring as well, however.

Charges involving inadequate parental care in Lake County Juvenile 
Court were all up in 2012. Dependency filings skyrocketed 49 percent, 
abuse was up 14 percent and neglect cases increased 8.9 percent, 
according to the report.

The judge added that many of those cases stemmed from pregnant 
mothers abusing heroin.

"Heroin in our community is up. Families are under increased stress 
from the economy," she said. "Last year, there were double-digit 
children removed because they were born with some kind of drug in 
their system. We're on track for that same double-digit amount this year."

Other highlights from the annual report:

- - Assaults were down 8.3 percent

- - Offenses against the family decreased 6.8 percent

- - Offenses against justice (including failure to comply with order of 
a police officer, falsification, harassing a police dog, escape, 
resisting arrest and tampering with evidence) declined 52 percent

- - Robbery and burglary cases increased 7.6 percent
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom