Judges who handle juvenile justice cases in Missouri’s 25th Judicial Circuit were honored last Friday with the Supreme Court Permanency Award.
The honor is given annually by the Missouri Supreme Court to those circuits achieving standards for timely hearings in child abuse and neglect cases. Presiding Judge John Beger, who had accepted the award on behalf of the circuit at the statewide meeting of presiding judges in February, made the presentation to Judges Mark Calvert of Rolla, Kerry Rowden of Vienna, Michael Headrick of Waynesville and Douglas Gaston of Houston.
“I’m very pleased that through the hard work of all the people involved in our juvenile court system,” Headrick said, “we have been able to reduce the number of days the children are under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, establish a permanent situation sooner for the children and reduce the number of children coming back under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court within 12 months of reunification, while handling increasingly larger caseloads.”
The 25th circuit includes Phelps, Maries, Pulaski and Texas counties.
“The award states it is given in recognition of excellence in service to children and families,” Beger said. “What that really means is these judges have worked incredibly hard to place children at risk in a stable home at the earliest possible time, whether that be reunited with their family, in a foster home or adoptive home, so that they have the best possible chance of growing and maturing into productive adults.”