Courts Have New Computer Tool For Troubled Children

HARTFORD (AP) — State employees who work with troubled children within Connecticut’s juvenile justice system have a new computer tool to instantly access information.

For decisionmakers, a click of a mouse now provides a wealth of background information about a child including whether he or she is on a suicide watch, is prone to assaulting others, or belongs to a gang and needs to be isolated from rivals.

The system, available to workers in juvenile detention, juvenile court and juvenile probation, is designed to help authorities make better decisions affecting troubled children.

“The biggest detriment to children is when people make decisions about them when they don’t have all the information,” William H. Carbone, director of court support services for the state judicial branch, said. “This maximizes our potential and gives us everything we need to know.’’

The database has been online since May 23 after two years in development, Carbone said.

“This makes our job ten times easier,’’ Jason Criscio, an employee at Hartford’s juvenile detention center.

Criscio used to spend a lot of time trying to read other people’s handwritten notes and faxing and filling out forms at work. Now, all that information is instantly accessible and easy to read online.

State officials say increased efficiency is just one of the pluses. The new database allows children and families to be better served, Carbone said.

About 15,000 children and young people pass through the state’s juvenile courts each year; about 1,500 of them wind up in detention.

Before the new system came online, whenever a child entered detention, staff had to fill out an extensive intake assessment detailing the child’s family history, court history, and mental and medical health.

The process was lengthy and had to be duplicated each time a child returned to detention. Probation officers and court officials often needed to record similar data.

Instead of employees duplicating others’ efforts, now they share the information by computer.