MARQUETTE — Following the permanent closure of the Marquette County Youth Home on April 1, the juvenile court has undergone significant restructuring and a “culture change” to better serve local children and their families.

Probate Court Judge Cheryl Hill said while the closure was a huge loss for the county, it has resulted in some positive changes.

“I still miss the youth home,” Hill said. “It was a wonderful service, but I do think (the closure) invigorated us. We have taken a situation that was placed upon us due to economics, and have continued to strive and serve the youth and families of the community.”

Part of the restructuring, said Director of Juvenile Services Duane Wilson, included putting more emphasis on individual assessments, including the Michigan Juvenile Justice Assessment System, or MJJAS, and the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument, or MAYSI.

“Every case that comes to us, we assess individually,” Wilson said. “We’re able to provide more accurate services.”

Wilson said the assessments have been used for years, but were not adhered to very strictly until now.

The juvenile court also recently welcomed a full-time intake diversion specialist, which was previously a contracted position, said Hill.

“It was a goal of mine to bring it in-house, because then we have more control over the position,” she said.

As far as housing children, Hill said the county’s contract with Great Lakes Recovery Centers to provide emergency shelter care has been helpful.

The county recently renewed its contract, which secures at least one bed at the facility for delinquent youth for $105 per night.

“It’s not always used, but it’s readily available for us and that’s what’s important,” Wilson said. “Most of the situations we’re dealing with … it’s an emergency. You need something right then and there, and they’re able to accomodate us.”

If that facility is full, Wilson said, beds may be available at Teaching Family Homes of Upper Michigan, a local nonprofit child welfare agency. The courthouse also has a regional detention support services, or RDSS, site to temporarily house children with the supervision of a probation officer.

“We’re a 24-hour operation here,” Hill said. “I’m always on duty and we always have a (probation officer) on duty. Kids tend to get into trouble in the middle of the night and we need a place to put them.”

However, Hill said the court’s first choice for the children is always back at home with their parents or guardians.

“It was always easier to say ‘We’ll put them in the youth home until morning,'” she said. “But that’s not the direction to the (probation officers) from me any longer because we don’t have it. We had to start thinking outside the box and come up with placements that we’ve never used in the past.”

Hill said the court is still using secure detention facilities in Escanaba and St. Ignace, and have used a few non-secure facilities downstate for children who need longer-term placements.

Children are also placed in local foster care, or with relatives, to keep them close to home.

“We have some very committed foster families in the area that have been doing foster care for 30 years,” Hill said. “They do wonderful things for our children.”

Looking forward, Hill said she hopes to develop a specialized local foster home for children who need long-term, non-secure placement, instead of transferring them downstate.

“We want them by their parents,” she said. “When they live in Grand Rapids or some other place downstate, that’s really hard. We’re working hard to keep them here.”

Overall, Hill said the court staff is more actively involved and “hands on” in the youth’s experience than ever.

“When the youth home closed, we realized that we had to do business differently,” Hill said. “I think we’re doing it more efficiently and more effectively. Everybody fears change, but sometimes it ends up with good results.”

Hill also noted that every full-time youth home employee who was let go with the closure have either retired or found work.

“That was a very big concern of mine,” she said.

Kelsie Thompson can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 206. Her email address is kthompson@miningjournal.net.