Cameron Clark is a Leelanau County family court administrator. He’s on the front lines of helping to place juveniles somewhere safe when necessary. He says the juvenile justice system is in crisis.
“It’s very uncomfortable. And I’ve told the judges several times. It’s very uncomfortable to go to bed at night myself knowing that we cannot guarantee the safety of our community because there’s no place to put a young person who is out of out of control and unsafe to themselves or others,” Clark said.
Clark, along with Grand Traverse County family court administrator, Kristyn Brendel, are pushing for the construction of a court-run, 32-bed detention and treatment center. They say there are no facilities in Northern Michigan.
“The need isn’t just in Grand Traverse County. It is, you know, 36 counties north of us. I’ve had responses as far away as Houghton that have said they would use our facility if it were built. That’s about an eight hour drive,” Clark said.
The nearest facilities are in Ottawa and Midland counties, and they are typically at capacity. Juveniles that need to be held for their safety or the safety of others are usually transported to facilities far away or returned back to the custody of their legal guardians.
Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole says that isn’t always the safest idea. “You know, they could be on a tether. But what’s going to keep them in their home? And moms and dads oftentimes can’t control their children, not because they’re bad parents. It’s because this child is acting out, whether it’s from mental illness or substance abuse,” says Cole.
Until there’s a facility that can take them, there aren’t many options. Grand Traverse County has a temporary holding cell for juveniles, but juveniles often need to stay longer than a few hours, pending court hearings or waiting on long term care.
The proposed facility would cost between $21-25 million, but the real impact would be priceless.
“I have two kids, right. And they both committed a crime. And it’s a scary crime. And I don’t know how to keep them both safe and keep the community safe from both of them. So we’re here hours into the night, trying to decide which kid we’re going to be able to place, because we found maybe by some miracle, we found a bed 4 hours away. Which kid are we going to put in this bed? The other kid we’re going to send home,” Brendel said.
Advocates hope to build the new facility near the courthouse. Officials say the proposed facility has the support of several organizations including the Michigan Association of Family Court Administrators, The Michigan Sheriff’s Association and the Michigan Probate Judges’ Association.
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