FILING A PRIVATE JIPS ON AN UNCONTROLLABLE CHILD
A “JIPS” (“Juvenile in Need of Protection or Services”) Petition involves the parent/guardian, from beginning to end. The Racine County Human Services Department does not employ attorneys. As a result, the following information is not intended to be used as legal advice but rather to give you an outline of the process involved in the JIPS Petition, should you choose to pursue it.
I. How do I start a JIPS Petition?
Before beginning the process, please understand that you, the parent/guardian, are the Petitioner. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR GATHERING TOGETHER ALL OF THE NECESSARY INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTATION TO PROCEED WITH THE JIPS. It is also important to understand that involving the Court is a final step. The expectation is that you, as the parent/guardian, have made every effort to control your child’s behavior and these efforts have been unsuccessful. You are the Petitioner to the Court. The District Attorney’s office is not involved in the process at all. The Racine County Human Services Department is involved only as the legally mandated agency to monitor the case. As the petitioner, you are responsible for providing all necessary and relevant information on your child to the Racine County Human Services Department throughout the process.
If you have decided to pursue a JIPS Petition, your first step will be to contact the Racine County Human Services Department, Information and Assistance Unit at 262-638-6321. This unit will generate a referral so that a case manager can be assigned for your child. Please understand that the case managers are not attorneys and cannot give any legal advice. You may use this packet to organize the necessary information (see Section III) for your petition. This packet is designed to assist you in identifying the information that will be needed in order to present the best petition to the court.
II. What information will I need to provide in my JIPS Petition?
An “uncontrollable” child is one who has demonstrated an ongoing history of non-compliant behavior in the home, school and community settings. These behaviors are often evidenced by documentation from other sources. Examples include items such as law enforcement reports, runaway reports, ordinance violations, truancy letters from school, attendance reports, discipline slips, letters and reports from therapists and other agencies involved with the child. This type of documentation demonstrates to the Court that the child’s behaviors are not confined only to the home setting.
Please note that if truancy is the primary issue with your child, it is not appropriate to file a private JIPS Petition. A truancy petition should be done through school. You may contact the school that your child attends and make arrangements to discuss the truancy situation with the school social worker.
As the parent/guardian of an uncontrollable child, you will be required to show that you have made every effort to correct your child’s behaviors and that these efforts have not been successful. This will be evidenced by the information and documentation that you will provide to the Department to go forward with the JIPS petition. The Court will not involve itself if you have done little prior to coming to court.
III. What actions should I be taking before requesting a private JIPS Petition?
Ongoing documentation of all efforts you have attempted in the home setting such as behavior modification, listing of expectations, consequences and house rules.
Ongoing documentation of follow-up on medical conditions such as prescription records, psychiatric records, therapeutic interventions and results. For example, if you make arrangements for counseling for your child and the child refuses to go and/or participate, you should document the times of the appointments and the child’s refusal.
- Ongoing documentation that you have involved law enforcement agencies when necessary and appropriate, such as calling your child in as a runaway.
IV. Should I press charges?
If your child is engaging in criminal activities, whether at home, school or in the community, it is advised that you contact local law enforcement and request that charges be pressed. Many parents are hesitant to request charges be pressed against their children, however, in some cases, this is really the most appropriate manner to handle the child’s behaviors. As parent/guardian, when considering whether to press charges, ask yourself, “If anyone else did the thing(s) that my child has done, would I still be hesitant to contact law enforcement?”
V. What consequences can my child receive under a private JIPS order?
It is important to recognize what a private JIPS can and cannot do. When a child is on a delinquency court order, it is a criminal matter. As such, the consequences are called sanctions and can be put in place in a short period of time. When a child is on a private JIPS court order, it is a civil matter. Consequences for civil matters are much different. A person violating a civil court matter is in contempt of the order. Violation of the court order can be “purged”. For example, a child is on a private JIPS order and one of the conditions is that the child will attend counseling. The parent/guardian arranges for counseling but the child refuses to go. This refusal is a violation. A contempt hearing is scheduled to inform the Court of the child’s refusal to cooperate. At the hearing, the judge finds the child in contempt of the order and “stays” any type of consequence. Now, the child has an opportunity to “purge” the offense of not cooperating with the court ordered counseling. If the child starts to participate in counseling prior to the next court hearing, the offense is “purged”, or taken off the record. If the child continues to refuse counseling, the judge can impose some type of consequence/sanction for the ongoing contempt such as suspension or limitation of the juvenile’s driving privileges, home detention, or community service work.
VI. Can my child be placed in Juvenile Detention?
Placement in secure detention is not an option for the JIPS youth. Wisconsin statutes prohibit detention time for juveniles under a JIPS order. Once a youth under a JIPS order has been sanctioned, however, using one of the other possible sanction alternatives available to the Court, subsequent violations can be referred to the District Attorney’s office for criminal contempt charges. This allows the District Attorney’s office to file a delinquency petition.
VII. Does my child or I have any legal representation in a JIPS proceeding?
Once a JIPS Petition has been filed, your child will be assigned a Public Defender to represent him/her in this matter. Your child’s attorney is just that, his/her attorney whose responsibility is to represent the desires of your child not you, the parent. As parent/guardian, you will have legal representation only if you hire a private attorney.
VIII. What is the next step if I want to pursue a JIPS Petition?
You will want to compile all of the information listed under II and III of this document. You will want to write it out on the Statement of Facts sheet and attach it to the JIPS Petition Information – Face Sheet along with any police reports, therapist’s reports, school reports, etc., that you may have to support this action. Make sure that you are specific when listing the allegations as to your child’s uncontrollability (i.e., will not attend school – include specific dates of non-attendance; violations of curfew with specific dates; associating with undesirables especially adults who are a bad influence; drug and/or alcohol abuse; failure to follow rules at home; specific dates juvenile is absent from the home without permission).
Once complete, all information is to be returned to Information and Assistance at the Racine County Human Services Department.
DO NOT TAKE THE INFORMATION TO JUVENILE COURT.
Please do not return the Face Sheet without attaching the necessary documentation and Statement of Facts sheet. If you do send the Face Sheet without the necessary information, everything will be returned to you.
If you have any further questions or concerns regarding the information above, please contact the Racine County Human Services Department, Information and Assistance at 262-638-6321.
IX. JIPS petition information – FACE SHEET
JUVENILE
Name:
Address/Phone (if unknown or can not be ascertained, state this):
Date of birth:
Sex and Race:
Height/Weight/Hair color/Eye color:
School Name and Address:
Is the juvenile in temporary custody?
If yes, please note where the juvenile is being held:
Please note if this is not able to be disclosed to protect the juvenile and/or the physical custodian.
Is juvenile subject to the federal Indian Child Welfare Act?
If unknown, please note this. If yes, please name the tribe:
MOTHER
Name:
Address/Phone:
Date of birth:
FATHER
Name:
Address/Phone:
Date of birth:
LEGAL GUARDIAN/LEGAL CUSTODIAN, SPOUSE (IF ANY)
Name:
Address/Phone:
Date of birth:
Note: If none, list nearest relative(s) with all contact information included.
REMEMBER TO ATTACH THE STATEMENT OF FACTS FOR THE PETITION TO THIS SHEET!
If you would like to download a document with this information, please click here.