Soonhee Bailey and the DAAY Court.

Sunny Bailey has had a passion for the legal industry from an early age. After a great educational career, Sunny Bailey rose to the ranks of Juvenile Court Hearing Master. Blessed to be a mother of an autistic child, Soonhee “Sunny” Bailey started to recognize a common theme in the juvenile court system. There was an increasing number of younger people who were not yet identified to fall along the spectrum who were committing crimes, in large part, because they weren’t getting the help they needed.

With a growing number of youths on the spectrum entering the system, Bailey knew that these children were not getting the type of treatment they needed. With a huge need to service autistic children properly and no real way to address it on a large scale, Bailey decided to launch the Detention Alternatives for Autistic Youth Court with Family Court Judge William Voy. The Detention Alternatives for Autistic Youth Court, or DAAY Court, is a specialty court that seeks to helpr autistic children by providing the path towards the treatment they need to better manage their condition. Sunny Bailey explains that the main difference with DAAY Court is it can help identify if a juvenile defendant is on the spectrum. When the test results show that a defendant is indeed autistic, the entire family will relate to a community service worker who can set the defendant up with the assistance they need. If a juvenile defendant is identified as autistic in a typical court, they could wait close to a year to be accepted into a program. This is the best-case scenario, because it involves the defendant being properly diagnosed, which does not always happen.

Sunny Bailey explains that a lot of parents of troubled youth do not fully understand what an Autism diagnosis really means. As a broad definition, Autism is a mental condition that makes it more difficult to communicate and form relationships with others. When it is not properly diagnosed, children can act out because they are frustrated. They want to be able to communicate and want to better control their behavior, but this is not as easy as it would be for someone who is not on the spectrum. Sunny Bailey is hopeful that the DAAY Court will continue to help identify issues earlier in a person’s life, so they can get the assistance they need.

Proper assistance usually consists of medical treatment, increased supervision, and a strong support system. All these treatments have been proven to help curb criminal behavior. The most common criminal activity amongst the children seen at DAAY Court is battery. While the proper treatment is not 100 percent effective, the access to information for both the children and their guardians has opened a whole new world of possibilities. Sunny Bailey believes every kid deserves every opportunity to live a happy and productive life. Those on the spectrum are no different. The DAAY Court is helping make this a possibility.

Future blog posts will continue to provide updates on the DAAY Court and allow Sunny Bailey to discuss more topics in the field of law and autism awareness.