Some careful thought should be given to what the parent plans to say. There is no such thing as an unimportant fact. They can expect me to turn to them and ask for information. Parents must tell me what level of control they have over the juvenile and what s going on at home. I want to know if the kid is driving the parents up the wall.
Parents conceal information to protect their juvenile.
They are not protecting their juvenile. They are really making the job difficult the judge to come up with a creative and constructive solution. Court can be filled with conflicting information. The parents and the probation officer might ask for treatment. On the other hand, the juvenile claims he doesn t need it.