News  Norfolk County Juvenile Court & Interstate Compact successfully return "at-risk" runaway teen home

Norfolk Juvenile Probation Officers Dante Bittle and Kate McDonagh, with the help of Interstate Compact Coordinator Donna Reed, arranged the return of a "high-risk" teenager from a New York City homeless shelter to Massachusetts. This incident represents one of a number of human trafficking cases that the Massachusetts Instate Compact Unit handles, according to Ms. Reed.

The mother of the runaway teen contacted the MPS' Interstate Compact Office and connected with "the empathetic ear of Interstate Compact Coordinator Donna Reed," according to Norfolk Juvenile Chief Probation Officer Reginald Vibert and Assistant Chief Probation Officer Allison Connolly.

Although PO Bittle was not assigned to the case, he informed Chief Vibert and ACPO Connolly about the circumstances of the matter and outlined his concerns about the teen and the possible "serious risk" she faced staying at a New York City shelter.

The Franklin Police in Massachusetts, which were also involved with handling this matter, were unable to enter the 17-year-old child into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) as a missing teenager using the shelter's address," according to Ms. Reed. Homeless shelter addresses are generally shielded from public disclosure for client privacy and safety.

"Norfolk County Juvenile Probation Officer Kate McDonagh was assigned the case given her familiarity with the family from a prior filing, and along with Donna, fielded multiple phone calls and emails from the teen’s mother, social workers in Massachusetts and New York, as well as the Assistant District Attorney’s Office here in Massachusetts," said ACPO Connolly.

"Donna and Kate were instrumental in connecting multiple agencies throughout New York and Massachusetts. They facilitated pivotal information sharing and ultimately secured the juvenile’s return to Massachusetts to appear for a summons arraignment and the CRA preliminary hearing," said CPO Vibert.

The teen was safely returned to Massachusetts and is now in the care of the Department of Children and Families, according to CPO Vibert.