
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 29, 1995                   TAG: 9505010018
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

PARENT PENALTIES URGED IN FIGHTING JUVENILE CRIME

Parents who fail to accompany their wayward children to court should be charged with contempt, a legislator told a panel studying the state's juvenile justice system Friday.

Del. Jerrauld Jones, D-Norfolk, also said the state should consider summoning the parents of truants.

``Once brought to court, services would be available for those parents who are willing but struggle to control their children,'' Jones said. ``Sanctions, however, would be imposed on those parents who refuse to work with the court and schools.''

He said charging parents who don't attend their children's court appearances sends ``the strong message that they have the ultimate responsibility for their children.''

The proposals were part of a 15-point plan Jones outlined at the first meeting of the Commission on Youth's Juvenile Justice System Task Force.

Jones sponsored legislation establishing the task force, one of three groups studying the growing problem of juvenile crime in Virginia. Other studies are being conducted by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission and by a panel appointed by Gov. George Allen.

Jones, who was elected chairman of the task force, gave his colleagues plenty to think about at their first meeting. Among his proposals were allowing the worst juvenile offenders to be tried as adults, regardless of their age, and opening juvenile court cases to the public in cases involving violent crimes.

He said prevention must be the cornerstone of the effort to reform the system. ``Children do not come into the world as criminals,'' Jones said. ``Child abuse, poverty, violence in the community are well-known causes of delinquency. I do not offer this as an excuse for teen violence, but rather to admonish us as adults to begin addressing the seeds of the problem rather than continually attacking its outgrowth.''

Arrest rates of juveniles for many serious crimes have increased by 55 percent since 1975, despite an 18 percent decrease in the number of 13- to 17-year-olds.

The problem is expected to worsen over the next decade, when the number of youths in detention facilities is projected to climb from just under 1,000 to nearly 2,800.

by CNB