PO cometh again

So the probation officer was here again. Gary says he has never seen her this often. You may remember that she was here just a month ago. That time I learned that in my county kids stay on probation until they are 21, although they can go to "unsupervised probation" which is just like NOT being on probation except that if you get arrested for anything it is really, really bad.

Anyway, she said then that she couldn't see getting him moved to unsupervised for at least a year. Today she said that she thought she should make sure he is doing okay in school, but if everything looks as good as it does now, she will ask for him to be released in October.

Cool, huh?

I really think the reason that she didn't want to raise expectations was that she wanted to make sure this placement was going to stick. If Gary was going to be moved again, she wanted to stay in his life. She clearly really likes him. She has seen him grow from an angry, defiant twelve-year-old to a really cool fifteen-year-old. I don't think she feels like she has to supervise him because he might start getting into trouble, more like because she wants to make sure he really won't need her anymore.

Oh, and since he was ELEVEN when he was so very naughty, his record will remain sealed. If he has to have any sort of background check it shouldn't even show that he has a sealed record. At least that is what she said.

I asked Gary if he was disappointed or had mixed feelings about not being able to move in with his dad. He said, "Not really, no." I'm not sure what that means, other than he didn't have anything he cared to share with me at the moment.

And that is okay too.