WORCESTER, Mass. - The Worcester Juvenile Court is down a judge and Spectrum News 1 is hearing this is part of a larger issue for the state’s juvenile court system of judges being spread thin.

“There can be tragic circumstances if you don't have the appropriate resources for the appropriate review of these cases,” state Sen. Michael Moore said.

There are currently three vacancies for Juvenile Court judges in Massachusetts, and with the state having a mandatory retirement age of 70 years old, there’s going to be three more vacancies within the next calendar year, plus two more judges who will be retiring early within the next six months.

Worcester currently has one vacant seat, but with the current needs of the Juvenile Court and all the anticipated vacancies, there’s no timeline as to when it will be filled, according to a letter from Chief Justice Dana M. Gershengorn. 

Worcester Juvenile Court is one of the busiest for care and protection cases in the commonwealth, according to Governor’s Council member Paul DePalo.

“Those are our most vulnerable kids, usually in crisis situations," DePalo said. "And so, several years ago, there was a push in the legislature led by Sen. Michael Moore, to add a judicial seat to Worcester Juvenile.”

“We advocated for this position in Worcester, the funding for Worcester because of the caseload," Moore said. "And whether it's the previous administration or now this one, we can't seem to get the adequate resources to maintain the services that are needed.”

The added Worcester seat marked the only increase in judicial staffing in the past 20 years. DePalo and Moore said it took more than two years to actually fill the seat in 2022 and now just this year, the judge has been pulled to Plymouth County to spread resources.

“Ultimately, to me, the bottom line falls on the judiciary," Moore said, "making the appropriate arguments for the appropriate staffing and making sure they're addressing the needs of the courts.”

As Massachusetts continues to grow, so do the needs of the juvenile court system. As it stands, there’s a cap of 42 judges who are required to staff 44 courthouses.

Julie Bowditch is the executive director of the Court Appointed Special Advocates Project (CASA Project), which provides advocacy and support to youth.

“On a yearly basis, 300-plus [cases]. Our case appointments are actually up this year, almost double new appointments as of the same sort of third three quarters of last year," Bowditch said. "So, it's hundreds of children because on lots of those cases, there's multiple children, siblings.”

Now, advocates said the priorities are filling the vacant seats and, in the long run, increasing the number of judges for Massachusetts Juvenile Courts.

“We, I think, are uniquely privileged region," Bowditch said, "because we have folks like Sen. Moore, like Governor’s Counselor Depalo, like our first Justice (Mary Beth) Keating, really advocating strongly and making sure that what's within their power to do is being done here in Worcester County.”

“My role as a counselor is to work in conjunction with the governor's office to make sure we're vetting candidates and we're filling those seats as soon as possible," DePalo said. "And the second thing is, I think the legislature needs to look at adding a significant number of seats to the juvenile court.”

“We can't just talk a good story in this," Moore said. "We need to appropriate the resources that are going to remedy the situation and provide the protection and care that these kids need.”

Bowditch also added it’s important to note hypothetically every judge seat could be filled and it wouldn't immediately stop any of the other factors which can cause cases to be delayed in Juvenile Court.

A spokesperson for Gov. Healey told Spectrum News 1 they’ll “keep working with the Judicial Nominating Commission and Governor's Council to nominate and confirm judges as efficiently as possible.”