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WA: for runaway kids, "detention should not be used as a substitute for services, treatment and care"

By Skelly

From the Yakima Herald - Republic:* Jailing runaways - judge says state services are lacking Maria Ochoa was a 15-year-old chronic runaway in foster care when Robert Inouye, Yakima County's juvenile court commissioner, took the unusual step of sentencing her to jail for a total of three months(, a)lthough running away is not a crime...State law lets judges detain foster children for up to seven days for noncriminal offenses such as running away and truancy... But Ochoa continued to run... Inouye gave her 30 days... When her sentence was up, Ochoa ran away again. Back before Inouye, she found herself with a 60-day sentence and the threat that he might lock her up until she turned 18... (P)ublic defenders appealed Inouye's sentences... The public defenders lost at the state Court of Appeals...continue to full post

Full post as published by Arbitrary and Capricious on February 20, 2008 (boomark / email).