Probation Dept. mourns loss

Submitted by Don Travis
Title: President
November 17, 2008

The Shelby County Probation Department Friday afternoon still was trying to cope with the sudden loss of fellow worker Stephen Brackett, 31, who died unexpectedly at his home on Wednesday.

Meth Blaze leads to charges

Submitted by Christine Roose
Title: District 3 Rep
November 13, 2008

Meth blaze leads to charges
Sisters are ECS teachers who have been placed on administrative leave

Two Elkhart Community Schools teachers face felony charges after a methamphetamine lab was found burning in their home Tuesday morning.

According to a press release from the St. Joseph County Prosecutor's Office, Michelle M. Stancati and Maria M. Stancati, both 35, each face one count of dealing methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of school property, a Class A felony.

The two were taken into custody Tuesday afternoon when firefighters contacted police after a meth lab was found in their burning home at 511 E. Woodside St., South Bend.

According to police reports, Michelle Stancati admitted to manufacturing meth just before the lab caught ablaze and later exploded. Both sisters told police they were meth users.

A large quantity of marijuana also was found in the home.

An 11-year-old boy -- the son of a subletter identified by police as Lisa Kitch -- was sleeping in the home when the fire department responded to the blaze.

Doug Thorne, director of employee-student relations for ECS, confirmed the women are employed as teachers. Michelle Stancati is employed at North Side Middle School as a special education teacher, and Maria Stancati is employed as a ninth-grade teacher at Memorial High School.

Thorne said the women were placed on administrative leave Tuesday, and an internal investigation is pending.

Bond for the two women is set at $5,000. They will be arraigned at 1 p.m. today in St. Joseph Superior Court.

Woman Gets Probation for Child's Tardiness

Submitted by Melonie Coan
Title: District 2 Rep
November 6, 2008

Last modified: Friday, October 24, 2008 10:43 AM EDT





Woman gets probation for child's tardiness

By ROBERT BRYAN, Special to The Herald-Press

MONDAY OCTOBER 27, 2008 WABASH - A Wabash woman on Monday was placed on probation, with fairly stringent terms, after being found guilty of failure to get her child to school regularly and on time.

Samantha O'Neal, 35, in a plea agreement with the state, had pleaded guilty to the Class D Felony educational neglect and was sentenced in Wabash Circuit Court to 1 1/2 years. That was suspended except for time served. (After arrest she had spent some time in jail, then later in electronic home detention.)

Among terms of her probation: Each school day, she's to call the Wabash County Probation Office and vouch that her children are in school and on time.

Failure to get them to school or failure to vouch would count as a probation violation.

Under terms of the plea agreement, if she fully complies with terms of probation, the felony conviction will be reduced to a Class A Misdemeanor.

Prosecuting Attorney William Hartley Jr. made clear this was an unusual case.

“I'm not going to file every time a kid's tardy,” he said.

This case was especially bad, he said, because every other avenue, from school administration to the prosecutor's office, had failed to to fix the problem.

Last school year through early April, one of O'Neal's children had been absent without excuse for six days and tardy 28 times. Many of the tardies were of the 60 to 90 minute variety.

Judge will resume sending girls to Indianapolis juvenile center, citing improvements

Submitted by Christine Roose
Title: District 3 Rep
October 13, 2008

A Northern Indiana judge, who last year stopped placing girls at the Indianapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility because of concerns about safety and educational programming, has resumed using the state facility.

In an Oct. 3 letter to Gov. Mitch Daniels, St. Joseph Probate Judge Peter J. Nemeth said his decision was based on an audit that showed significant improvements had been made.


Nemeth stopped sending female juveniles to the facility, formerly known as the Indiana Girls School, in December after an assessment by his staff found the detention center was understaffed and lacked adequate rehabilitative and educational services. He also cited reports of sexual activity between inmates and between inmates and staff.

"A great deal of credit belongs to Commissioner Edwin G. Buss, who has taken an active and leadership role in making significant upgrades at the Girls School," Nemeth said in the letter to Daniels.

Nemeth took his complaints to Daniels after he said attempts to work out problems with former DOC Commissioner J. David Donahue were unsuccessful. Donahue resigned in August and was replaced by Buss.

At the time he stopped placing girls at the center, Nemeth said a review turned up numerous deficiencies, including:

» Inadequate staffing to maintain a safe environment.

» Classroom settings that "can only be described as nonproductive at best."

» The lack of vocational programs.

» The failure by the facility psychiatrist in many cases to adequately explain to inmates why they have been placed on psychotropic drugs, to justify their continued use and to provide a monthly follow-up.

A new evaluation conducted in September found significant improvements in educational services and program supervision, as well as a decrease in overt sexual behavior.

"It is very clear that the culture at IJCF has changed and is continuing to change for the better," evaluators wrote in a report to Nemeth.

Doug Garrison, DOC spokesman, said Buss and Nemeth had met to discuss the judge's concerns.

"One of his top priorities is to address juvenile concerns," Garrison said of Buss. "I know he has met with Judge Nemeth, and they are both interested in working to find the best ways to secure juveniles, while making sure their educational needs are met and they are being prepared for re-entry."