Money For Juvenile Cases Drying Up Without Funding, Teen Runaways, Truants Will Lose Legal Counsel

Faced with record numbers of truants and runaways, Juvenile Court officials say they are running out of money and will ask county commissioners for more.

“As of (Tuesday), we’ll run out of money to represent students in those truancy cases,” Juvenile Court Coordinator John McFarland said.

State law requires the county to provide legal representation to children facing a truancy petition from a school district.

The law also requires Spokane County to provide an attorney for a child facing an “at-risk” or runaway hearing, usually initiated by parents.

Both requirements are the result of the 1995 Becca Bill, passed by the Legislature and named after a teenage Spokane prostitute, Rebecca Hedman, who was murdered after running away from home.

The state gives Spokane County $70,000 a year to handle all court costs involving runaways and truants. The county had similar budget problems last year, but nothing compared with this year’s crunch, McFarland said.

County commissioners will meet with Juvenile Court officials Tuesday to talk about ways to cover the shortage until the state’s next appropriation July 1.

Commissioner Phil Harris blamed the shortage on the state’s tendency to enact laws without adequately compensating counties who have to deal with the consequences.

“But I don’t know if we’re ready to take money out of our reserve for this problem right now,” Harris said.

Without more money, McFarland isn’t sure what will happen.

“I think the law requires that we still handle all truancy and runaway actions,” he said. One risk would be the loss of a private attorney who handles the truancy cases.

The biggest drain on Juvenile Court is the number of truancy hearings, said Juvenile Court Commissioner Fred Aronow.

State law allows school officials to seek court intervention when a student misses five school days within a month or 10 days within a year.

Last school year, Spokane School District 81 filed 472 truancy petitions.

During the first six months of this school year, district officials have filed 486 petitions in Juvenile Court.

The number of “at-risk” runaway hearings in Spokane County has also ballooned.

In 1996, the first full year the Becca Bill became law, Spokane County represented 50 runaways.

Last year, the number soared to 150. Since January, the county has had 26 runaway clients - each costing about $100 in legal costs, Public Defender Donald Westerman said.

The county assigns all truancy hearings to one private attorney. Through December 1997, runaway hearings were conducted out of the Spokane County public defender’s office. After an accident hobbled one of the staff attorneys in that office, many of the runaway cases were referred to three private attorneys.

“And the only way we pay for that is to take away from other areas in the office,” Westerman said.

The increased caseload in Juvenile Court doesn’t mean Spokane faces an increase in troubled teens, Westerman said.

“What it really shows is the schools and parents getting a better idea of how the Becca law works. They’re using it more,” he said.

One parent who saw the law in action this week hopes the county comes up with more money.

“This last time, when my son had to go to (juvenile) court, it finally woke him up,” said the father of a 17-year-old.

His son, a West Valley senior, missed about a dozen days during September and October.

In December, West Valley officials took him to Juvenile Court where he was told he’d face detention if he missed more school.

He continued skipping classes. On Monday, he came before Commissioner Aronow again, who warned him he was ready to sentence him to seven days detention for violating the earlier order.

After a stern lecture, Aronow let the teen go with a suspended sentence.

“We came out of that room and realized two or three other kids weren’t that lucky,” said the father.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WHAT’S NEXT County commissioners will meet with Juvenile Court officials Tuesday to talk about ways to cover the shortage until the state’s next appropriation July 1.