Parents and kids have a friend in Loretta Klose
You are at your wit's end. Your child refuses to listen to you and the situation is becoming more and more violent. Or maybe your child is using drugs and you don't know how to stop it. What can you do to bring things under control?
Loretta Klose can help. She is the juvenile intake officer for Marion County and the Eighth Judicial District area. When called upon, she assists law enforcement officers in dealing with home situations or minor offenses. She is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and works with all ages through 18 years.
If a parent calls 911 for help, a law officer responds to determine if a dangerous situation exists. If it's more a matter of a dispute or quarrel, the officer calls Klose. Klose goes to the residence and tries to mediate the situation by talking to family members. If possible, she gets the parties to sign a contract in which they commit themselves to certain actions.
If the child refuses to cooperate, the officer brings the child to Klose's office at the Marion County Jail complex, and she works with the individual there. The juvenile is asked to fill out a lengthy questionnaire. The answers are tallied to determine such things as substance use/abuse, physical/mental health, family/peer relationships, educational status, and aggressiveness. If a parent accompanies a child, the two fill out a questionnaire together.
After assessment of the answers, Klose confers with a law enforcement officer and sometimes also with the county attorney about what action to take.
There are several options:
— Take the juvenile back home.
— Put the child up for the night in a place especially reserved for that purpose. Klose said sometimes all that is needed is a cooling off period.
The person who attends the juvenile has been specially trained and is called to serve an 8-hour shift. Men attend boys, and women attend girls. Ten volunteers are available, but Klose said more are needed. The 15 hours of training required for the position can be received evenings and on weekends.
— In a worst case scenario, the juvenile can be taken to Junction City and placed in detention.
Klose and others in her position in counties across the state are known as "gatekeepers" to the juvenile justice system. Their job is to attempt to keep kids from going to jail. Juveniles going through the intake and assessment process receive no court record.
No two situations are alike and each has to be handled in an appropriate way.
Klose said sometimes people who know her call her directly for help.
Sometimes, children whose parents are arrested, leaving them with no place to go, can be housed temporarily in the special place, which is kept under police protective custody when in use.
When juveniles slip through the gate and have to appear before a judge for the first time, Klose is there to help them.
Klose often returns to homes to assess the problems and needs of the family and show them where to find help.
January through November 2001, 104 youngsters went through the juvenile intake process in Marion County.
"It's a challenging job, but it's very rewarding," Klose said.
She is in her third year on the job. Formerly, she and her husband, Marion Police Sergeant Garry Klose, lived in the jail and provided for inmates. Her present office is in her former kitchen, so she feels right at home. Because Garry is a police officer, they often work together.
Klose has three sons: Roger Hudlin, Wichita (a part-time officer for Marion Police Department), Jason Hudlin, Frankfort, and Michael Childs, Lehigh. She has eight grandchildren.
The Kloses lost their home to a fire in January and are hoping to purchase another one soon.
