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Dear Governor Pataki:
I am a licensed NY State Psychologist and, in that
capacity, I have specialized in working with children, adolescents, and families
for 30 years. During that entire period, I have been painfully and acutely aware
of the deficiencies in our current PINS legislation, and the need to extend the
provisions of PINS to the age of 18.
I have always viewed PINS as "protective
law"---it protects adolescents and it protects their parents by providing
all of them with the support, services, and resources of Family Court. Our
children and our family structure are the heart of our society. If we profess to
have any "family values" as a community, we must ensure that our
children are in safe, adequate home environments, and in school, until the age
of 18, and we must ensure that their parents have the necessary authority to
carry out their responsibilities.
I have seen the anguish and desperation of parents when
their child bolts from the home and does not return for days or weeks on end. I
have seen the frustration of other parents when their teenage child has a
psychological disorder or a drug or alcohol problem for which he/she will not seek
treatment. And I have seen the fear on the faces of still other parents when
their teen's explosive rage threatens to destroy the family structure, harm
others outside of the family, or rebound back on that same teen in the form of
virulent thoughts of suicide. But currently, if the child is over the age of 16,
all of these parents are essentially powerless---and Family Court lacks the
authority to effectively intervene.
I have worked in an adolescent group home/residential
setting where teens up to the age of 16 could be placed by the Family Court. I
have seen the positive effects of academic, behavioral, and mental health
intervention with these children. But I have also worked on Riker's Island (I
was Chief of the Mental Health Service in the Correctional Institute for Men there), and I have seen the results when we abandon these same children at the
age of 16 and do not provide them with necessary and needed services. They
become our criminal population.
We do not allow children to buy a pack of cigarettes in NY
State until the age of 18. We do this to protect them from harm. Yet, we allow
runaway children between 16-18 to fend for themselves on the streets, or the
homes of unsavory strangers, while their distraught parents can exercise no
authority to bring them home or get them to a place of safety and treatment.
Does this make any sense to anyone?
I have heard people say that raising the PINS age to 18
will increase the burden on Family Court and other social service agencies--it
will increase the need for government spending in these areas. That is hardly a
reason not to enact PINS reform into law. How many teens might die if PINS
reform does not come about---and what is it worth to save those lives? How many
teens might we be able to divert from entering our prisons--and costing the
state at least $40,000 a year to house them there? In dollars and cents, PINS
reform is a good investment---and it is an investment in the future of our
communities.
Without PINS reform, mental health professionals, like
myself, are as hampered in helping teens between 16-18 as are their parents and
our Family Court judges. We have the means to help these children---and we must
be free to use them. The current welfare of our families, and the future welfare
of our society, can only benefit by raising the PINS age to 18---and if we fail
to see this become law, NY State will be guilty of child neglect and
abandonment.
Judith Shaw, Ph.D.
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