Court Opinion

ID: 9690125
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 18:54:31.609902+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:18:53.663900
License: Public Domain

LEVINE, Justice,
specially concurring.
Since it appears from the record that there are no suitable treatment programs available for J.K.H., I find that I must concur with the decision authored by Justice Meschke. The unfortunate result in this case highlights the inadequacy of existing services for children, one of the many problems identified by the Governor’s Commission on Children and Adolescents at Risk (CAAR Commission). CAAR Commission, Committee Report (July 28, 1986).
J.K.H. has a behavioral problem, but he is not mentally ill; he appears to be a slow learner, but he is not mentally retarded. All witnesses on treatment indicate that J.K.H. needs treatment, but for one reason or another he is not amenable to treatment at their facility. Out-of-state treatment was suggested as a possible solution. According to the CAAR Commission’s report, if children or adolescents are in need of long-term residential care, like J.K.H., they are sent out of state because there are no long-term residential treatment facilities in North Dakota. Approximately 40 youngsters per year are sent out of state for treatment at an average cost of $30,000 per year per child. CAAR Commission Report, supra at 19. Out-of-state treatment is clearly not a cost-effective solution to the problem of gaps in the services currently being provided in North Dakota.
Gaps in service is just one of many pressing problems discussed in the CAAR Commission’s comprehensive report on troubled children and the resources available to them. The findings and recommendations of the Commission will be reported to the Legislative Council which in turn will report to the Fiftieth Legislative Assembly:
“The Commission recommends that the Governor create by Executive Order and the Legislature reaffirm by resolution an inter agency Children’s Coordinating Cabinet to promote coordination, policy development, and program development at the state level.... The Cabinet should include the administrators of the departments, program directors, and the highest level of policy makers in the children and adolescent service areas within the Departments of Human Service, Department of Health and the Department of Public Instruction plus those from the Supreme Court, the Attorney General’s Office, and Job Service of North Dakota.”
It is my hope that the goals of the Commission to provide suitable treatment programs will be realized so that future cases of this nature can be decided differently.