what to do when the probation officer is "breaking the rules"

[thebeckster1202]

requesting professionalism...is it possible

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA
I am wondering how someone would go about requesting a new juvenile probation officer? My son had been in placement and then probation which he completed without incident back in 2008, and now is facing 6 months probation on seperate charges(we have not yet had the disposition hearing, but this is what I was told the recommendation would be). I am not disputing the probation etc. just that our prior experience with the probation officer was anything but positive and I do not want to put my son in the position of being unfairly treated(as he was before) because I have dared to go above her head(I have called her supervisor after I left several voicemails for her inquiring about my son over a period of 3 weeks with no reply). I also had to call the facility where he was in placement to inquire as to the accuracy of the things that she was telling both me and my son about what he needed to complete to be discharged,(these programs were not even available to us because of a program that he was sentenced to, and her statements directly contradicted what the facility told us upon intake based on this program) only to find that she was incorrect in what she told us, but it still led to him spending additional time in placement beyond his sentence because she was waiting for him to complete these unavailable programs. In addition to being hard to contact she was over an hour and a half late for our first scheduled meeting and again she scheduled for this week and cancelled 2 hours before the appointment. I don't want to put my son in a bad position with her, but if there is a legal means of getting him assigned to someone else beofre the actual disposition, I would like to explore that option.

 

[Antigone*]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA
I am wondering how someone would go about requesting a new juvenile probation officer? My son had been in placement and then probation which he completed without incident back in 2008, and now is facing 6 months probation on seperate charges(we have not yet had the disposition hearing, but this is what I was told the recommendation would be). I am not disputing the probation etc. just that our prior experience with the probation officer was anything but positive and I do not want to put my son in the position of being unfairly treated(as he was before) because I have dared to go above her head(I have called her supervisor after I left several voicemails for her inquiring about my son over a period of 3 weeks with no reply). I also had to call the facility where he was in placement to inquire as to the accuracy of the things that she was telling both me and my son about what he needed to complete to be discharged,(these programs were not even available to us because of a program that he was sentenced to, and her statements directly contradicted what the facility told us upon intake based on this program) only to find that she was incorrect in what she told us, but it still led to him spending additional time in placement beyond his sentence because she was waiting for him to complete these unavailable programs. In addition to being hard to contact she was over an hour and a half late for our first scheduled meeting and again she scheduled for this week and cancelled 2 hours before the appointment. I don't want to put my son in a bad position with her, but if there is a legal means of getting him assigned to someone else beofre the actual disposition, I would like to explore that option.

So sonny boy keeps "breaking the rules" and you wonder what to do about a probation officer that you say is "breaking the rules?"

I see what's important here. Speak to her supervisor, that is about all you can do.

 

[thebeckster1202]

I have in no way condoned anything my son has done, and agree that if the law is broken that there will be punishment and I don't think that my original post says anything different, but what example is set for those who should be learning from the adults who are in their lives, and because of his actions, she is part of his life so by her example he should learn that as long as nobody complains you can and should be irresponsible and then if someone takes the appropriate actions of recourse then you abuse the powers that you have over a third party (mind you I called the supervisor NOT my son). My question is in order to not have issues this time around is there a way to request/apply for a different officer since there has been no official "assignment" yet.

 

[thebeckster1202]

Antigone- are you suggesting that because my son is less then perfect that he and I (who has been supportive of the justice system) should be mistreated? If I make an appointment I show up, not 2 hours late, not cancelling 2 hours before, that is not professional behavior and as a parent and not an offeneder if I am to be required to attend these meetings that it should not be a problem (on her end) each and every time.

If you scheduled appointments with a doctor (or any other professional) and were treated this way how much faith would you have in them?

 

[Antigone*]

Antigone- are you suggesting that because my son is less then perfect that he and I (who has been supportive of the justice system) should be mistreated? If I make an appointment I show up, not 2 hours late, not cancelling 2 hours before, that is not professional behavior and as a parent and not an offeneder if I am to be required to attend these meetings that it should not be a problem (on her end) each and every time.

If you scheduled appointments with a doctor (or any other professional) and were treated this way how much faith would you have in them?

Please don't refer to your son as less than perfect, my daughter who got grounded for talking back to me is less than perfect. It's more than once that he's been in trouble with the law ~ he's got a couple of years of behaving "imperfectly" under his belt. The fact that he is back in trouble again is the perfect example of that.

I have no clue about the probation officer and his/her habits; I really don't care to be perfectly frank. You are griping about the professionalism of this person who is probably handling a five-person case load. The root cause of this situation is Mr. Imperfection and his perfect ability to snub the law. Stop worrying so much about him being mistreated and worry about the people, places and things he is mistreating.

I gave you the perfect solution. Speak to the supervising officer because at the end of the day, being unprofessional is not illegal.

Perfectly speaking, now... Tigi out

 

[thebeckster1202]

Perhaps my question is being misunderstood, I am not saying that she has done anything illegal, or looking to argue about what my son did or didn't do, what I am asking is if there is anything that would legally allow me to request that upon assignment to a different probation officer that is not be someone with whom we have bad history. I didn't break any laws, and have made myself available at her request only for her to not show up, to make inquiries for things that require action on my part, and get no answer for weeks on end. I don't see how what my son does wrong, and again I am not defending his actions, but does it then justify her lack of responsibility and accountability? I understand that the department may very well be overloaded, but in the ability to return a phone call, or attend an appointment that you call for is not too much too ask. Even a call to say "I'll look into that" or "I got the message and here is the information" shows at least an attempt at doing the job.

 

[cbg]

You are free to make the request. The probation officer is free to turn you down.

 

[StevenJ_420Law]

Juvenile probation officers are very busy and yes, they do make errors. You must be very diligent in everything that happens and you do have a duty to research IMO.

By way of perspective, I can tell you these Juvi PO's have the toughest of PO jobs and get called away at a moments notice and must juggle and manage multiple families per child who tug from many directions - with their huge case load - this often leads to prioritizing emergent issues. That is the reality of our over burdened system. Literally, for all you know, one of this officers "kids" could have had a gun and was threatening to commit suicide. You dont know and it happens. All of that is confidential and you are not privy to what is going on with the other families or why the officer had to cancel.

I guess if you believe you need to go up the chain, documenting what happens and be prepared to fight this out in some way - that is entirely your prerogative. Ultimately, this authority probably rests solely with the chief of probation (titles very).

Unless you can do better than you can do right now in showing impropriety on the part of this officer, you'll likely be fighting a losing battle, and I doubt the battle is ultimately beneficial to the kid in this - unless the probation office willingly changes your officer. Frankly, nothing you've said to me glares. They aren't your servants and probation is not burger king.

Have you talked with his lawyer about this?