handprints

Case History

Jermaine

Jermaine's court order and placement document

Jermaine was one of the children attending the DeJarnette Children's Center in the 1980s. The following information is based on official records and staff notes from 1982. The first document is dated August 25, 1982 and it is regarding a court order and psychiatric evaluation for Jermaine. I was surprised that the court order was related to the charges of arson and murder! Maybe the murder was the result of the arson. Apparantly, Jermaine had been placed in Juvenile Detention, but it was thought that the DeJarnette Center would be more appropriate for him to await his hearing. The graphic to the right is the document from the Commonwealth of Virginia regarding Jermaine's court order and placement.



Jermaine's 60-Day Review document.

The graphic to the left shows Jermaine's 60-Day Review. According to this document, Jermaine was working on problems that included temper tantrums and destruction of property. The problem with destruction of property had improved, but Jermaine was sent to time-out for having a tantrum. This behavior was described as pouting, back-talking, feet stomping, and hyperactivity. The 60-Day Review also stated that Jermaine had shown improvement in his concentration and was able to spend more time at tasks since being put on medication. The medication was not mentioned, but it sounds as if it might have been Ritalin. Ritalin was prescribed a lot in the 1980s to treat hyperactivity or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) in childrten. It was also noted in this report that Jermaine was not eating his lunch or dinner and staff were going to start monitoring this. One of the side effects of Ritalin is loss of appetite.



The graphics below show handwritten notes by staff documenting Jermaine's food intake during some days in September 1982.

Documentation of Jermaine's food diary. Documentation of Jermaine's food diary. Documentation of Jermaine's food diary. Documentation of Jermaine's food diary. Documentation of Jermaine's food diary.



There is another document regarding Jermaine's discharge from the DeJarnette Center and this was an "Addendum To Pre-Discharge Behavioral Report" dated October 12, 1982. It states that Jermaine was making good progress in showing acceptable behavior, although there was a period of noncompliance that was thought to be caused by anxiety about leaving the DeJarnette Center or from "mocking peers." Jermaine did not have any instances of arson or property destruction during this period and had better concentration. He was discharged from DeJarnette on October 1, 1982. The graphic below is the Addendum To Pre-Discharge Behavioral Report.

Jermaine's court order and placement document


The graphic below shows a handwritten note from a worker at the DeJarnette Children's Center. It is regarding reading a story to Jermaine and one dip per story. It also says that another child at DeJarnette, Jimmy, should be reminded to return a book to the school's library called, The Day Daddy Stayed Home.

Read story to Jermaine handwritten note from Peggy to Teresa.


Top of page


|Home| Contact| Site Map| Copyright ©2007|