Kathleen Harnish McKune and David McKune: How Kansas can raise the bar on juvenile justice

Last April, our son was falsely accused of pulling the school fire alarm. As a parent, hearing that your child may have broken the law is terrifying. But when you’ve dedicated your life to understanding Kansas’ justice system, only to learn that your son was taken into custody without completely understanding the events unfolding around him, it’s especially traumatic. Although our son was eventually exonerated, we hope the lessons we learned during this experience can highlight the importance of finding better ways to ensure our children and communities have the best possible outcomes.

Zach was 15-years-old when he found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. The fire alarm at his high school went off, and he was accused of pulling it. There was only circumstantial evidence against him as school officials and the school resource officer (SRO) reviewed just a few moments of security video before linking him to the incident. During the interrogation, Zach was coerced. Because he is neurodevelopmentally delayed, he was told he was impulsive and must have done it without knowing. By the time we were able to pick up messages about what had occurred, he had been interrogated by three district personnel and the SRO — without us (his parents) there to help.

We were horrified that our son — who had never gotten into any kind of trouble at school nor with law enforcement — could be pressured into giving a false confession, not understanding the consequences of what he was admitting to and without his parents or any representation by his side to console and advocate for him. This happens far too often and can have long-term consequences on our youth. Research shows that children who are arrested at school are three times more likely to drop out, and those who do are eight times more likely to be arrested in the future than children who graduate. This is inconsistent with our values, and it exacerbates the problem of giving them a sense of belonging to our community.

Luckily, a student came forward and exonerated our son, forcing school representatives and the SRO to finally watch the complete video and clear Zach’s name.

We have both worked with state government: David has studied and worked his entire career in both youth justice and the adult corrections industry, and Kathleen worked with former Govs. Kathleen Sebelius and Mark Parkinson as well as with the Kansas Association of Counties to help improve government systems and processes. But our backgrounds still couldn’t prepare us for the distressing way the justice system can treat children.

At both the state and national levels, there are deep-rooted, systemic problems that need to be changed. Fortunately, we live in a state that is actively trying to address all these problems. With the passage of Senate Bill 367 earlier this year, Kansas is working to overhaul the juvenile justice system. For example, for low-level offenders who do get involved in the juvenile justice system, SB 367 allows them to avoid detention by enrolling in rehabilitative therapy and vocational programs.

Our state is well-positioned to rebalance the criminalization of youth and be a model for others. SB 367 has so much potential, and we hope legislators and local policymakers prioritize this important step toward a better system. But there are still ways in which the Legislature has not gone far enough. The law needs to allow for parental representation at all suspension hearings and police interviews/interrogations for children of all ages. It must de-criminalize minor actions by students and establish clear guidelines and “best practices” for determining which behaviors are school disciplinary matters and which require police intervention. Schools must establish strong and clear memorandums of understanding (MOUs) regarding police/school resource officer roles in the schools as authorized by SB 367. And we need an ongoing commitment to studying the over-criminalization of children in schools.

Although our son’s experience brought to light the ways in which we’re letting down our youth, ultimately, he was able to stay out of the system. Many other people aren’t as lucky, however, and it is incumbent upon us to work to change that. Communities across this great state have Juvenile Corrections Advisory Boards and school boards that can work to ensure SB 367’s insights are implemented. The Legislature and oversight committee can ensure the reinvestment of funds into rehabilitative programs, systems improvements as noted above and holding all of those involved in the juvenile justice system accountable.

We are just one family out of thousands dealing with this broken system, but we hope that by sharing our ordeal, we can continue the conversation and push for more improvements for all juveniles.