by Brian Mclaughlin

Created on: January 31, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

Article: This morning I sat in a juvenile detention center with my twelve-year old client who was there after being arrested for selling crack cocaine in a nearby housing project. This slight young man was upset at facing the prospect of being away from his family for a while for evaluation and treatment. His mother, a one time drug addict, provided poor supervision and the child frequently found himself wandering around the grounds of a notoriously violent housing project. He sometimes slept on the floor of the laundry room in one of the buildings. He did not attend school. Now, despite his mother's neglect, he found himself facing the prospect of being court-ordered to live away from her. He cried. He said that he will refuse to go. He threatened to kill himself.

What do you do in a situation like this? Do you bark at him and tell him he will do what the judge orders him to do? Do you placate him with trite reassurances like "Everything will be o.k." or, "Just do what you've got to do and you can go home."? Neither of these approaches will work but it would be so easy to just pick one, say you've done your job and leave. When the judge sends him away you tell yourself there was nothing you could have done.

In ten years as a juvenile probation officer I have found myself relying on these crutches before. There are so many other forces to blame that it is easy to forgive yourself for a less-than-enthusiastic approach to clients needs. But recently I have found myself in church on Sundays hearing an inner voice say, "Do more!" Work harder. And I feel a special obligation to my clients to work as hard as I can to turn their lives around and get them out of the juvenile justice system.

As a Catholic my faith teaches me that service to others is at the core of a Christian lifestyle. And not just service to anyone but service to those who have the least among us. There are many ways to do this. There are those who prefer a real hands-on approach who work in shelters, as social workers, community organizers and even probation officers. For those who are less skilled at one-on-one service there is legal advocacy, philanthropy and public policy. Regardless of which of these careers one chooses, service to the marginalized is at the core. They are careers rooted in justice.

But justice is often hard to come by and failure is a regular part of any one of these professions. This past year I have sent no fewer than ten clients away. (By modern standards this is a lot.) I have

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