August 11, 1999
Probate court program works with troubled teens, seniors
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
From teens in trouble to senior citizens who need help caring for themselves, volunteers in the Probate Court Volunteer Program called Volunteers in Prevention lend a hand wherever needed. With more than 15 different programs to choose from, the 150 Probate Court volunteers keep busy.
Over the past three months, intern Cheryl Burrows has touched on many aspects of the Volunteers in Prevention program. Burrows will graduate with a Bachelor's degree in criminal justice this month from Michigan State University. Her internship with the program completed her studies and she found it was an excellent way to end her undergraduate career.
Drawn to work with juveniles and hoping one day to be a probation officer, Burrows' internship gave her a thorough overview of both the juvenile justice system and a number of programs in place to help prevent problems.
"This internship has been perfect," said Burrows, an Elk Rapids residents. "I have always wanted to do something with children and families and I wanted to get hands-on experience helping juveniles. I learned about court policies and procedures, kids, attitudes and programs for kids."
Burrows was given a caseload of eight kids and served as their volunteer probation monitor and officer to ensure the kids complied with the terms of their probation. She visited nursing homes, tutored a little girl in reading, conducted exit interviews with youth and their parents after completing their probation and monitored kids on house arrest. She also helped teach stress and anger management classes to teenagers.
"I was surprised at this program and how extensive the program is," Burrows said. "I am job hunting in northern Michigan and ideally I would love to work in a system with so much volunteer involvement because it is so much more helpful."
The Volunteers in Prevention program is the only one in the state with such a broad variety of programs and huge group of volunteers, said volunteer coordinator Linda Fawcett. The volunteers help both prevent problems in kids the schools refer to them as needing help. Programs such as Learning Partners for elementary school age children and tutors for junior high age children can help build self esteem and academic skills. Often the volunteers become friends and mentors to these students.
"You become very close to your students," said Betty Leden of Green Lake Township, who has been a learning partner for two school years.
Sometimes both the kids and volunteers get so attached it can be hard to separate after their time is up.
"I am going to miss my girls, it's hard to say goodbye," said Katie Brickman of Peninsula, who was a volunteer this summer on break from her studies in Psychology at the University of Michigan. "It is really neat to get involved with somebody's life who really needs someone, and you make such a difference."
The other focus of the Volunteers in Prevention program is to help kids already in the court system get the help they need to stay out of it in the future. Volunteers in many different capacities can provide the guidance and support a youth and their family needs to successfully get back on track.
"We provide these kids an opportunity to change," said Fawcett, who has been with the program for 18 years. "They are having a problem in the community, so the volunteers are there to help. Just because a child makes a mistake does not mean they can't learn something and move on and successfully completing their probation can be a positive thing for them."
Another aspect of the Probate Court duties is working with the elderly who can no longer care for themselves. Volunteers can be appointed as guardians or conservators. They also visit people in assisted care facilities, who often have no one else to visit them.
The next Volunteers in Prevention program training is scheduled for the end of September and more trained volunteers are always needed. Contact Linda Fawcett at 922-4827 for more information.