Understanding The Parental Responsibilities

In line with the community aspect of fighting juvenile delinquency, juvenile courtits officers and the judge, as in parens patriae, is no substitute for proper adult guardianship. Granted, in some instances birth parents are absent from their children's lives, and so by default they will not be a party to a juvenile court probation.

Of course, for children to meet the requirements of their probation sentences, especially attending community service and juvenile probation program meetings, they must have a way of getting to those functions. As children should not travel unsupervised irrespective of age, parents must be accountable for bringing them to and from sessions. If they have the means, parents should drive children and be ready to pick them up at an appointed time of release. If not, parents will need to accompany their children between stops by way of bus or train.

More important than just providing transportation, though, parents are essential to the success of a juvenile court probation sentence in that they provide support. In some cases, parents will be able to provide advice or words of solace from an empathic standpoint, having gone through a juvenile probation program at some point in their own lives.

In all fairness, for children and parents alike, juvenile court probation is a trying time, especially if the latter have had trouble with raising children before, they may need counseling in their own right. Some parents may have their own issues to wrestle with that have lent themselves to inhospitable home environments, such as anger problems or dependency on drugs, and therefore, must help themselves before they can help their families. Also, parents may need their own network of support in trying to cope with a child going through a juvenile probation program and might want to see an adult counselor or support group during the probation period.

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