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Court effort addresses disruptive disorder
Of the 1,395 screened admissions to JJC, 505 — or 36 percent — tested positive for ADHD.
YOUNGSTOWN — Jordan was tossed out of high school as a sophomore and found himself in the Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Court system. Now 18, he has his GED high school equivalency and is planning to go to college.
Domestic violence landed Taylor, 15, in detention, JJC’s euphemism for jail, before she began to turn her life around. Today, she says she has better control of her anger and intends to become a nurse anesthetist.
The common denominators in their lives are Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, believed to be a major cause of their behavior problems; and a JJC program/study that provided diagnosis and treatment for their life-disrupting disorder.
“When good kids do dumb things, there is something else going on,” said Judge Theresa Dellick of Mahoning County Juvenile Court, explaining the impetus for the two-year study, the results of which link anti-social behavior to ADHD.
Of the 1,395 admissions to JJC screened through March 2008, 505, or 36 percent, tested positive for ADHD, court officials said.
Based on the screening results, letters are sent to the parents or guardians of JJC students who test positive, seeking permission to place their children in the program, which includes free diagnosis and free initial drugs.
Sadly, Judge Dellick said, of the 505, parents of only 55, ranging in age from 7 to 18, allowed their children to participate in the treatment program.
Of the 55, 43 were males and 12 females. ADHD is more commonly seen in males, said Dr. Michael A. Kachmer, former chief of psychiatry at St. Elizabeth Health Center for 32 years.
ADHD is the most-heritable disorder seen in psychiatry, said Dr. Kachmer, medical supervisor for the ADHD study, which began in October 2006 and will conclude in September 2008.
“One day, I saw seven kids from JJC in my office. All of their fathers had been or were in jail,” said Dr. Kachmer.
Of the parents of the 55 students in the Mahoning County JJC program, 34 had a history of legal problems, 32 had a history of substance abuse and 25 had a history of mental illness, Dr. Kachmer said.
The program is also for the parents, the judge said.
“Parents come in frustrated. They want their child back; and they would like to have their normal lives back,” she said.
Judge Dellick said 70 percent of the kids who are in the Department of Youth Services end up in the adult justice system.
The idea for a formal study originated from the judge, her staff and Dr. Kachmer. They believed a significant percentage of the students in detention showed signs of ADHD, and somewhere along the way had fallen through the cracks and either were not diagnosed or diagnosed and not treated.
The two-year ADHD testing and treatment program was funded by research grants from the Ohio Department of Youth Services and subsidized with other state money. When the last research grant ends this September, Judge Dellick said she will try to continue to fund the screening and treatment program with ODYS prevention funds.
The grant applications were written by Tammy King, chairwoman of the Criminal Justice Department at Youngstown State University and JJC detention program director.
“I think universities have an obligation to serve their community. I want to help keep the community safe, and I want young people to do well and be healthy and happy,” said King, explaining her involvement.
Students, age 10-18, who enter the Juvenile Justice Center take the Connors Continuous Performance Test, which screens for ADHD.
If the student tests positive and the parents agree to treatment, the students are sent to Dr. Kachmer for an official diagnosis and medication. Then, they are placed under the guidance of case manager Rochelle Richardson.
Richardson said many parents do not permit their children to participate because they don’t want their child to be labeled, or they are in denial.
For most of the kids who finish the program and take their medications, schoolwork improves and family life gets better, she said.
“It works. We’re seeing decreased recidivism, and that’s what we want. If ADHD is corrected, behavior changes,” Judge Dellick said.
Jordon, of Austintown, and Taylor, of Youngstown, are examples of the program’s success stories.
Jordon said he was diagnosed with ADHD in fifth or sixth grade, but one of the drugs affected his appetite and growth, and when he started high school, he was not taking his prescription medications. Instead, he was self-medicating with alcohol and drugs.
He said his grades were A’s, B’s and C’s until he got to the ninth grade, when he quit doing his homework and became, in his own words, “a troublemaker.”
He was expelled from high school in his sophomore year and ended up in JJC through drug court. He said he went back to school to graduate but was not allowed to participate on the wrestling team and could not attend school for full day.
“I could have gone to a Life Skills Center, but I didn’t want to wait. I wanted to be with my class,” he said. He quit school.
Now Jordan says he is “back on track.” He earned a GED and is training at the Southside Boxing Club and the American Karate Club in Boardman. He plans to go to a technical college and eventually study business and start his own business. Also, he started an Alcoholics Anonymous youth group that meets once a week.
That says a lot about Jordon’s determination and planning and organization skills. Here is a life turned around and a youth with a vision, Judge Dellick said.
Also, a family has been turned around, she said.
“In Juvenile Court, cooperation and participation by the parents are critical. They have to be open to intervention. Jordan’s family was not ready to throw him away,” the judge said.
Taylor’s mother and father were in jail in 2002, so she came to Youngstown from Las Vegas to live with her grandmother, with whom she still lives. Her father is out of jail, and her mother is due to get out in July 2009, she said.
Taylor, diagnosed with ADHD in 2003, said she sometimes stole money from her grandmother. Finally, on Christmas Eve 2006, she said her grandmother called the police. Taylor was charged with domestic violence and ended up in JJC for six days.
“Before getting in the program, I was more argumentative. I believed my problems were not my fault. I couldn’t concentrate in school or at home. At school, I used to get into fights and had bad grades. My grades are still not the best, but I’m doing better. I feel better about myself, and my grandmother feels better, too,” she said.
“I want to finish school and go to college and become a nurse anesthetist. I feel as if this is a steppingstone. Before, I didn’t take anything seriously, but I never thought I’d end up in JJC. Now, I just want everyone to be proud of me,” she said.
Treatment works, said Dr. Kachmer, “I’ve seen kids go from F’s to A’s in school. The grandparent says he is not putting his fist through the wall anymore. It’s rewarding to see kids doing better,” he said.
“It’s the student’s anti-social behaviors that gets them into court. But if we can get them into treatment before their behaviors are ingrained, we can help them and their future victims,” Judge Dellick said.
“Early prevention works. That’s the purpose of this program. If their behaviors change, we can keep them out of adult court and jail,” Judge Dellick said.
alcorn@vindy.com