JACKIE COLON MATTER Officials: Case highlights need for teen facility

Officials first began searching for a place for Jackie Colon in March 2001.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A defense attorney representing a 16-year-old girl accused of the murder of an infant two years ago said it is likely criminal charges will be dropped.
But that doesn't mean she will go free.
Atty. Don L. Hanni Jr. spoke about the Jackie Colon case Friday after Mahoning County Juvenile Judge Theresa Dellick told The Vindicator an 18-month-old confidentiality order in the case is moot.
Jackie is accused of killing 3-month-old Alex Zalovcik at the Colons' former South Side home.
Mental health officials have said Jackie is incompetent to stand trial and incapable of being restored to competency, Hanni said. That will likely mean the criminal case would be dropped.
However, the county Probate Court could take over the matter of Jackie's ability to live safely in the community, the attorney said. Probate Court could appoint a guardian to find appropriate placement for the girl in a residential treatment facility.
Recapping the case
Youngstown police said Jackie confessed throwing the baby out a second-story window in December 2000 and stabbing him as he lay on the concrete below. The infant suffered more than 60 stab wounds.
Jackie, now living in the Mahoning County juvenile detention center, faces an aggravated murder charge.
A judge ruled in March 2001 that she is incompetent to stand trial, so the criminal case remains open. County officials have struggled to find a treatment facility for her through the juvenile court system. She spent several months in an Oklahoma residential treatment facility but was returned to Mahoning County in April.
In January 2001, a doctor diagnosed Jackie with psychotic disorder, moderate mental retardation and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, juvenile court records show. Her mother, Michelle Colon, said that evidence presented at a juvenile court hearing last week shows that Jackie is mentally ill and mentally retarded. The hearing was closed, and records from the hearing have been sealed. A ruling by Judge Dellick on the girl's competency is pending.
Effect of new law
There is no particular place for children like Jackie, who are found incompetent after being accused of a serious crime, said Dr. Patricia Goetz, a youth psychiatrist who does consulting for the Ohio Department of Mental Health.
In correspondence with state Sen. Robert F. Hagan of Youngstown, D-33rd, Dr. Michael F. Hogan, ODMH director, notes that he is aware of only a handful of cases in recent years where courts have found a juvenile offender incompetent.
But that number could increase with the enactment last January of a new law that clearly defines the right of juveniles to raise the competency issue, Dr. Hogan writes.
"When these cases have occurred, placement has been very difficult and costly," Dr. Hogan writes.
ODMH has studied various options, including the possibility of the state opening a facility that would focus on helping youth attain competency, the letter says. However, funding would be needed. Hagan said he wanted to secure funding for such a facility and said he would like to see a multicounty venture to open a facility that would serve children in Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana and Ashtabula counties.
Judge Dellick said that sending Jackie to Oklahoma cost $300 to $500 per day. Mental health officials have said the cost for intensive residential treatment at private facilities across the country is about $100,000 annually. Michele Colon contributes about $500 monthly for her daughter's care.
Falling through the cracks
Hanni said he'd like to see one statewide state-run facility for children like Jackie.
"There has to be literally hundreds of children like Jackie walking around the state of Ohio, and with all the tax money spent on a whole host of other things, you'd think they could come up with a facility for children like Jackie," he said. "But seeing as they can't vote, you don't see any politicians running to help them."
Hagan said he was alerted to the placement issue through Jackie's case by Judge Dellick. The judge would like to see a state-run facility. A second choice would be a private facility that can accommodate serious cases like Jackie's.
"We have to have a facility for our own children because if we send children to another state, we don't have contact between the parent and that child."
The legislature, when passing the new law regarding juvenile competency, did not provide funding, Dr. Goetz said.
"We won't pay for what children really need," Dr. Goetz said. " ... It's a problem around the country, not just around Ohio."
Dr. Robert Cohen, professor and vice chairman of the Psychiatry Department at Virginia Commonwealth University, said the child mental health system in the United States has long been a "stepchild to the adult system."
"It was never great," he said. "It was never fully developed but, in many ways over the last few years, it has gotten worse."
The numbers
He called Jackie's situation "startling" but said she is not alone.
Cohen said that more than half of youths incarcerated in juvenile facilities have been diagnosed with mental health problems, but local mental health systems do not have adequate facilities to treat them.
He estimated that about 15 percent to 20 percent of all youths have mental health issues, with as many as 5 percent with serious problems.
"There are these kids who have unique intensive care issues," Cohen said. "You can't get rid of the safety net just because most kids are going to be able to function in their community."
In Ohio, the state-run facilities that had resources to treat kids with intensive issues have been eliminated, Dr. Goetz said.
State hospitals have closed state-run mental health units for juveniles with the goal of keeping the mentally ill children in their communities by providing intensive in-home care and support, Dr. Goetz said. For those kids, residential treatment doesn't really help, she said.
Because the numbers of children with serious problems like Jackie is so small, it is difficult to find a way to meet their needs without bankrupting the mental health system, Dr. Goetz said.
The dilemma
Officials are faced with the dilemma of finding placement for children like Jackie, who cannot stay in the community, she said. Since state-run facilities closed, some children have been placed in private facilities.
Dr. Goetz said those facilities can say no to any child, for any number of reasons, including liability concerns -- if the child is too violent or if the staff is not qualified to care for the child, for example. A judge cannot force them to take a child.
The problem becomes more critical when a child is both mentally ill and mentally retarded, like Jackie, said Sam Hibbs, an ODMH spokesman. Facilities that have staff with expertise trained in both areas are even scarcer.
Mahoning County officials approached more than 25 facilities in Ohio to place Jackie, said Paula Diffley, coordinator of Mahoning County Cluster. Each rejected her based on various criteria, she said.
Cluster is made up of representatives from various county agencies, including the Children Services Board, the Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, the Juvenile Court, Drug and Alcohol Addiction Services and Mental Health.
Cluster is used to find services for children who may have complex problems and are involved with two or more of the agencies.
In March 2001, interim juvenile Judge Joseph E. O'Neill found Jackie incompetent and unlikely to be restored to competency in the "foreseeable" future, court records show. He ordered lawyers to work with MRDD to find a plan for Jackie that provided "confinement and treatment in an adolescent facility or institution under state control or supervision."
In June 2001, Cluster found placement in an Indiana treatment center, according to court records. The state of Indiana nixed the deal. Jackie was, instead, sent to Oklahoma in October.
Defeating the purpose
A problem with such cases, Dr. Cohen said, is that "you never know if it's a good facility or just someplace willing to take them." Further, the goal of keeping a child in her community is lost.
"Kids shouldn't be leaving their communities," he said. "And they certainly shouldn't be leaving their state."
Hanni said Jackie should not have been sent to Oklahoma in the first place because it removed her from her mother, the girl's "greatest therapy."
Judge Dellick said Jackie was brought back to Mahoning County from Oklahoma for re-evaluation and a determination of a long-term plan for the girl. She said the possibility of Jackie's being readmitted to the Oklahoma facility or another treatment center still exists.
But, she added, sending children to facilities where they do not have frequent contact with family defeats a juvenile justice goal of reunifying minors with their families.
"If there's a way to get her closer to home, we'll get her closer to home," the judge said.
viviano@vindy.com