Whenever Annabea McKinley learns that a probation officer she supervises has been assigned a teenager, she asks the same question: "Did you see an alarm clock in their room?"

Many teens transferred into the adult criminal justice system don't have family members encouraging them to be responsible, McKinley said.

She also encourages Pima County Adult Probation officers to make sure their teen charge has paper and a pen next to the phone when they they call about their next meeting, and urges them to ask about the teen's diet.

"They're coming to us living on Cheetos and Diet Cokes," she said.

Often, probation officer Peggy McCarthy is assigned teen probationers who are lacking immunizations, valid identification, medical insurance or Social Security cards. They frequently spend hours trying to track down parents to sign required documents to acquire those things.

McCarthy remembers cruising alleys and parks looking for the homeless mother of one of her probationers so the teen could enroll in school. She eventually found her pushing a shopping cart in the parking lot of a local fast-food joint.

The mom was thrilled to see her.

"A lot of the time the parents are thankful for you because it means, in their troubled heads, they no longer have to parent," McCarthy said. "Probation is often a way out for parents."

Some parents are so caught up in their own struggles they don't realize their teenager needs help.

"Some of these kids have us listed as 'Mom' and 'Dad' in their cellphones," McCarthy said.

Other parents have simply given up on their troubled teens. "I've had frank discussions with parents and had to tell them, 'You are the parents, you have responsibilities here,' " McCarthy said.

A key to successfully navigating probation is providing structure, McCarthy said - early intervention, substance-abuse counseling, educational and vocational opportunities, anger management and other counseling opportunities.

"They soak in the structure. They thrive on it," she said.

Keeping them busy also keeps them from being bored and hanging out with the wrong crowd, the probation officers said.

"A lot of these kids, once you get them on probation and tell them you are going to be drug testing them every day, will say 'OK' and they just stop" using drugs, McCarthy said.

Probation officer Susana Torres would like to see more teenage probationers in the workforce.

"Those who have jobs feel a lot better about themselves," she said. "Some of them are doing the crimes to support themselves. Also, having jobs keeps them away from their negative peers."

And even when it seems a kid has succeeded, one bad decision can erase it all.

McCarthy had high hopes for one probationer who had earned his GED, kicked his drug habit, completed his community service and was working full time.

He was killed in a drive-by shooting after deciding to visit some old friends.

"He was growing up. He was becoming a man," McCarthy said. "He was right on the cusp, and then he made one bad decision."

Contact reporter Kim Smith at 573-4241 or kimsmith@azstarnet.com