7 year old special needs boy jailed

[Guest guest]

Woman says judge was too harsh on young son

By Debbie Bryce - Journal Writer

Alvarez, wiping tears away, talks about the arrest of her

7-year-old son at Hillcrest Elementary School in American Falls. Her

attorney, Mark Echohawk, listens.

A former American Falls woman says a Power County judge acted rashly

when he ordered her 7-year-old son to be locked up for throwing a

tantrum at class.

Alvarez, 25, said School Resource Officer Fred Harms came to her

American Falls home in November and instructed her to pick up her

youngest son Donovan, 6, at Hillcrest Elementary School because he was

transporting the boy's older brother, Fabian, 7, to the Bannock County

Juvenile Detention Center in Pocatello.

" When I got there he was just crying, " Alvarez said. " He said `Mom I

want to go home.' "

Fabian was seated at a desk inside a small cubicle in American Falls

Principle Kay ' office.

Alvarez said she arrived at Hillcrest 30 minutes before Fabian was

taken away and asked to take him home, but was told it was too late -

Power County Magistrate Judge Mark Bebee had already issued the

detention order.

Harms said if Fabian didn't walk to his truck willingly, he would put

the 48-pound second- grader in handcuffs.

" There was nothing I could do, " said Alvarez, who now lives in

Blackfoot. " I just told him to be good. "

Alvarez said she received no documentation from the court and was not

given a copy of Bebee's order.

Fabian Alvarez was transported and booked into the detention center,

given an oversized jail uniform and kept isolated away from the older

inmates for three nights and four days.

" He's never slept away from home, except with family, " Alvarez said.

said when a child is taken out of the classroom, the staff makes

every effort to calm the child down so he can return to class.

But, she said Fabian Alvarez's behavior escalated once he left the class.

said the school was unable to contact Alvarez and no

emergency contact information was available.

Alvarez refutes the claim and said she instructed the school to

contact Teton Family Services in an emergency.

She said her family has been involved in family counseling since she

and the boys' father divorced.

Alvarez said the boys have limited contact with their father since he

moved out of state.

said several incidents involving both Alvarez children had

occurred since the boys returned to the American Falls school just

weeks before the November incident.

She said she notified Alvarez, who did not believe the problems were

serious.

Alvarez said prior to Fabian being jailed, she received one call from

the school and it was to tell her that 6-year-old Donovan was acting

up in class, but the school told her the problem had been resolved.

said behavior disorders were detected while Fabian Alvarez, who

is speech impaired, was being detained, but the school's staff was

unaware of the problem beforehand.

Alvarez said the American Falls school developed an individual

education plan for Fabian in 2003. Every school child with special

needs works within such a plan and when the family later moved to

Blackfoot that plan was transferred with him, she said.

said school policy was followed in the incident.

While she regrets that a child from Hillcrest was placed in detention,

said once law enforcement takes custody of a child, it's out of

the school district's hands.

Pocatello Attorney Mark Echohawk represented Fabian Alvarez after he

was charged with two counts of disturbing the peace in the incident

that landed him in jail.

Echohawk asked Power County Prosecutor Laggis to dismiss the case

in the interest of justice and argued that the 7-year-old child didn't

have the mental capacity to form the willful and malicious intent to

disturb the peace as required by law.

" That's too young for anyone to stand trial, to help in their own

defense and to understand the proceedings against them, " Echohawk

said. " And a court appointed expert agreed. "

But Laggis refused to drop the charges and a trial date was set.

During the trial, Judge Bebee determined that a psychological

evaluation indicated Fabian Alvarez was incompetent to stand trial and

did not act with malicious intent, but authorities then launched a

child protection case aimed at Alvarez.

Laggis said provisions in the Juvenile Corrections Act gives the court

authority to look at other potential problems in juvenile cases,

including neglect, abuse and abandonment.

He said a pre-evidentiary hearing with Alvarez, Echohawk and the

Department of Heath and Welfare will be set and a court-appointed

special advocate will be appointed for Fabian Alvarez.

The purpose of the meeting is to set up a program to get services to

the family, if Alvarez declines an evidentiary hearing will be

scheduled.

Echohawk said Fabian Alvarez, who was transported to jail without a

detention hearing, should have been released to his mother.

" The rule is a child can be released to the parent with a promise to

appear in court, " Echohawk said. " If a child's welfare or the welfare

of society is at risk, the courts can order the child not to be

released, but our order doesn't say that. "

Echohawk attempted to meet with American Falls District 381

Superintendent Ron Bollinger to clarify the district's position

regarding law enforcement in the schools.

" We want to have a public meeting to approach this issue. The elected

officials have an obligation to deal with this, " Echohawk said.

" Fabian was made to feel like a criminal. The fact that we can use

nice names like detention to take the edge off, that doesn't change

the reality for him. "

Bollinger, who declined to meet with Echohawk, could not be reached

for comment.

Alvarez said after her son's ordeal, he refused to leave her side.

" Kids depend on their parents for security, " she said. " When they pull

them right out of your arms and take them to detention, what am I

supposed to do? What is he supposed to think? "

Fabian Alvarez is doing well in his new school, but the November

incident still affects him.

" He tells his brother, `be good or you'll go to jail,' " Alvarez

said.

Echohawk wants to see the district to develop protocols or written

guidelines defining how and when law enforcement will be used to

address behavioral problems.

While tantrums and disruptive behavior are unacceptable in the

classroom, hauling elementary students off to jail is not the answer,

he said.

" We have a court system we believe in and we don't want to try any

case in the media, but there are issues about this case that raise

public concern, " Echohawk said. " We want to fix a problem. Anytime a

7-year-old can end up in jail I think there's a problem. We want to

find a cooperative solution. In the meantime, we want answers. "

Debbie Bryce is a the regional reporter for the Journal. She can be

reached at 239-3132 or by e-mail at dbryce@....

http://www.idahostatejournal.com/articles/2006/04/20/news/local/news02.txt