By Melanie Deeds
Legal News
Brian Daniels knows plenty about troubled kids.
After almost three decades of working with them, Daniels knows that sometimes — when you get involved early enough with the right approach — there’s a very good chance
those teens don’t become troubled adults.
“In year’s past, a lot of them were brought into the system and put on probation when we really didn’t need to go that route,” said Daniels, who is supervisor of the intake department at Macomb County Circuit Court’s Juvenile Division.
Daniels and others in his division work closely with the Resolution Center in Mount Clemens through its Victim-Offender Mediation Program and, for those efforts, are being honored this month with the center’s Conflict Resolution Advocacy Award.
The award will be presented Tuesday, March 22 during the Resolution Center’s 18th annual “Evening at the Movies” fundraiser in Sterling Heights.
Craig Pappas, center executive director, said Daniels and other juvenile division workers are being acknowledged for their dedication and collaboration with his organization.
Two mediators also are being honored — Nina Dodge Abrams and Lory Valuet.
Pappas said Abrams “really puts her heart and soul into mediation and spreading the word about mediation.”
She is an attorney who lives and works in Oakland County and serves on the State Bar Association ADR Section and Oakland Bar ADR Committee, but still last year, Pappas added, “dedicated a significant portion of free/volunteer time to The Resolution Center.”
Valuet is employed by Macomb County Community Mental Health and spends much of her free time volunteering as mediator on an array of different case type, Pappas said.
“We recognized that in 2010, she really cemented her passion for mediation and desire to help her community through being a volunteer mediator.” he said.
Regarding the Victim Offender Mediation Program, Daniels said most of the referrals from his division involve misdemeanor cases such as first-time larcenies and destruction of property.
“The primary component is to take those kids who don’t necessarily need a lot of supervision from the court and have them deal with the matter through restitution, community service, things like that,” he said.
The Resolution Center has offered the program since 1999 under which, according to its website, “offenders and victims of crime meet together face to face to allow youthful offenders the opportunity to admit responsibility and take accountability for their actions in an effort to make things right.”
If the situation is resolved successfully and the victim and court are satisfied, then the offense does not appear on the youth’s record, Daniels said.
There’s also a youth diversion unit, supervised by Deanne Wejek, which focuses on such matters as home incorrigibility and school truancy.
“We work with kids all the way up to 17,” said Daniels. “Obviously, the younger we get them, the more likely we will have an impact.”
Daniels admits the mediation effort doesn’t work all the time and sometimes the victim opposes the resolution that is proposed.
He and workers in the juvenile division impress upon the youth who appear before them that they should make every effort to work at getting the offense off of their record.
“Some don’t think much about it, but many others do and it pays off for those who take it seriously and work at fixing the situation,” he said.
Daniels noted that, when he first started working at the youth home in 1980, juvenile records were not made public. They are now.
Being involved in the lives of troubled kids does have its special moments, he said.
“Periodically,” he said, “you get kids who come back and say, ‘you really helped me,’” he said. “That’s good to hear.”
Overall last year, The Resolution Center experienced a slight decline in the number of cases it processed compared with 2009, Pappas said. Coincidentally, he noted the State
Court Administrative Office reported a drop in the number of filings during 2010.
Just over 800 cases were mediated at the center involving issues such as breach of contract, juvenile, landlord tenant, school disputes and other circuit court matters such as personal injury and auto-related disputes.
The March 22 event at MJR Marketplace Theater on Van Dyke is the center’s primary fundraiser, attracting those from the legal, business, health, financial and human service profession. After a reception and awards presentation ceremony, ticketholders can view a movie of their choice.
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