Juvenile probation officer honored
Perilous path led to work with youth
WEST CHESTER » An atlas has many roads on it, and each leads somewhere.
A person’s life has many paths and they, too, lead somewhere. Some are straight, some are curved, some stretch far, some are cut short.
Kikianiko “Kiki” Garcia’s path to the Chester County Juvenile Probation Office was one with hills and valleys and roadblocks and unexpected detours. But it is a path to which she has dedicated herself, and it has drawn unexpected rewards.
Last week, Garcia was given the honor of being named the winner of the George M. Bratcher III Juvenile Probation Officer of the Year award for 2021, as the county commemorated Juvenile Justice Week.
In comment to the packed Courtroom One during the awards presentation, Garcia, a 10-year-veteran of the office, recalled her sometimes perilous journey through life, but displayed the grit and determination that allowed her to survive many hardships and prosper in the role of mentor, guide, coach, counsel, and taskmaster to the youthful offenders she meets in her professional life.
“My path wasn’t the traditional path, but it was the path that I was given, I had to make the best of it” she told her colleagues and the officials who attended the ceremony Wednesday. “I will continue to do the work with my youth, but also continue to strive to see leaders from diverse backgrounds at the table so that we can continue to assist all youth who come through our doors with all different life paths.”
Garcia, a juvenile probation specialist who works with youth in alternative school settings, was first raised by her grandmother, along with several siblings and cousins. But that changed later when she was placed in foster care in New York City, and then ran away from that place.
Along the way, she experienced sexual assaults, domestic abuse, and community
violence, as a child and as a parent, surviving all and pushing herself away from a string of odd-jobs to high school graduation, college, and eventually a graduate degree.
“I can remember people asking how in the world was I doing all of this, and I would often say I can’t tell you how, but I know there’s a higher power guiding me, to continue to come here every
day to connect with the youth, who may or may not have experienced some, if not all the things I endured,” she told the hushed audience.
“When working with the youth I not only bring my education to the table, but also empathy and my life experience,” she said, paying tribute to her children and partner, who attended the event. “I was able to use
all the negative things people said to me to fuel me. To this day, I still encounter individuals who tell me ‘you can’t, you won’t, you will never, and you don’t deserve.’ But I still use all that negative energy to fuel me because I’m not here for them, but for the youth I serve.”
The ceremony was hosted by Chief Juvenile Probation Officer Don Corry, who was also honored for his 35 years in the office. He detailed a number of the highlights of the year in the office, including beginning advisory committee on bias and inequality.
The purpose was “that we weren’t having any unintended outcomes or any bias in how we’re operating to try to do everything we can to make sure we’re not contributing to the problem, but actually contributing to the solutions,” Corry said as county commissioners’ Chairwoman Marian Moskowitz, Vice Chairman Josh Maxwell, and Judge Alison Bell Royer listened.
Corry also announced that a statewide review had showed those offenders supervised by the office had a 10 percent recidivist record, compared with 19 percent previously. “Looking across the state, that’s about the lowest rate, I saw across all jurisdictions in the state,” he said.
Also recognized were juvenile probation officers Lindsay Walick, Megan Sensenig, Amy Musumeci, Rrichia Prince and Trica Usher for their years of service.