Caption: BARRY M. GRANTAGE: 42HOME: SouthfieldPROFESSION: A Probate Court judge in Oakland County, Grant has a reputation for successfully rehabilitating juvenile offenders. Basically, he believes that the way to help young people is to be firm. Grant says probation is insufficient punishment in most cases. Instead, he requires children guilty of petty crimes to make constructive contributions to their community by shoveling snow for the handicapped, visiting the elderly in nursing homes, making their beds at home or doing volunteer work for service groups. It is not uncommon that Grant will make a child spend one full day at Children's Village, a detention home, to give him or her a taste of what the consequences of breaking the law are all about. Grant says his program is very effective. Since being appointed to the bench last September, only one juvenile has returned to his court as a second-time offender.ON PROBATE COURT: I always wanted to be a Probate Court judge -- it's been a life-long goal. I never ran for anything else. I ran for office three times and lost before being appointed last year by the governor. I really enjoy it. I took a tremendous cut in earnings -- I practiced law for 17 years -- but there's more to life than money. This is the court that concerns itself with real human problems. It's the only court in the state that at one time or another touches every person's life.
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