Broken Homes and Broken Systems

      Sunday this week ended with me getting off work late. I got a call about a found runaway juvenile. A mother reported her son a runaway the day before and received a phone call from her mother that the kid showed up at her place. This kid is 13 years old and on probation for stealing multiple cars. He wears an ankle monitor as well and when mom reported him missing-it violated his probation leading to a possible warrant.


I entered the apartment and found the kid sleeping wrapped up completely in blankets. I put him in cuffs and got him some clothes since it was freezing outside. It turned out he didn't have a warrant and was just taken off the system as a missing person and released to mom. I got a chance to talk to him without his mom though and he told me he didn't want to be at home for multiple reasons and was going to ask the court to be placed into a group home but he was deathly afraid of how his mom would feel when she was told his wishes. I tried to get the reason out of him but he refused to tell me why. It's a shame that a 13 year old in and out of the system already would be in a situation where he willingly wanted to move to a group home for delinquent kids...

Monday, ended with another kid call. I received a call about a 14 year old mentally unstable kid who was off his meds and being violent. I pulled up to the house as the kid was trying to run away from his mom. I grabbed him and pulled him into the house. He stormed to his room and said he was not going anywhere. He got mad at his mom because he ran away from home while under house arrest for calling in bomb threats to his middle school. As a result, mom cancelled his cell phone service and he went ballistic. When the paramedics arrived, he refused to be seen by them and I could see the signs of a fight brewing. I grabbed him and as soon as I touched him he tried fleeing out the house. I wrestled with him and got him into cuffs. We dragged him to the back of the ambulance where the paramedics had to deliver two medical sedation shots as he wrestled and fought best he could. Once both were administered we had to hold him down as he was strapped heavily to the stretcher for his own safety. This kid was diagnosed with three different mental disorders at 14.

I've always said the two systems in almost every state that need to be on their game are child services and mental health. Often both are lacking. These kids are the product of a failed system. If only more could be done.