Runaways largest category
Skipworth, Looking Glass handle 1bad 9 juveniles
Photos by Jacques Beteinoer
By GALE ROHDE
Of the Emerald
About 39 percent of the 5.5
thousand juvenile referrals to
the Lane County Juvenile
Department in 1972 were for
children’s offenses. The largest
single category was that of
runaways. Others were referred
for truancy, possession of
alcohol, being ungovernable, and
curfew violations. These are
offenses that are only defined as
such for those underage.
Two institutions, with different
structures, are concerned with
handling those guilty of so-called
children’s offenses and are
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concerned with juveniles in
general. They are Skipworth
Juvenile Home and Looking
Glass Family Intervention
Center.
Skipworth is the more formal of
the two. It is not limited to merely
children’s offenses, but includes
the whole realm of law-violations
committed by juveniles. It is
county-supported, funded by
county taxes. It is a branch of the
Lane County Juvenile Depart
ment, along with the counseling
services and the juvenile court.
Most of the juveniles referred
there are brought in by the police,
though there are self-referrals
and parental referrals as well.
It is a detention home — the
place where juveniles stay while
they await a court hearing. When
a young person is arrested, the
police decide whether to bring
him to detention or to his
parents. Usually if the parents
can be located, if the young
person is not dangerous, and if
there is no danger that he will run
away, he is brought to his
parents. Otherwise, the juvenile
is brought to a counselor who will
decide whether or not he will
remain in detention. If he stays,
he will have a court hearing
within forty-eight hours.
Deborah Wames was eighteen
when she started Looking Glass.
She thought of the idea after
having gone through detention
for being a runaway. She felt that
runaways were looking for a
solution and that what they were
doing was considered a crime
only because of their age. It
seemed unfair that runaways and
others guilty of children’s of
fenses should be unnecessarily
subjected to the detention
system. Although she felt that
Skipworth was one of the best
institutions of its kind in the
nation, Wames felt that its hands
were tied.
After talking over her idea with
her friend Paul Hurly and a
psychologist. Dr. Ashton, the
three of them worked closely on
the idea for nearly a year before
the house was actually opened.
They also received a great deal of
help from their board of direc
tors, and a graduate psychology
class.
The house holds about seven
people. Many of those who stay at
the house are runaways, or in
dividuals whose families are in a
crisis situation, or people who
just need to get away from an
uncomfortable living situation
for a while.
But running away is not a
prerequisite for using the ser
vices of Looking Glass. It is a
temporary shelter for most of
those who come. Looking Glass
aims to get them back into a
viable place in the community,
often back with their parents,
otherwise into foster homes or
group homes.
Skipworth too, has a transient
population. It holds about 29
people at a time, staying on the
average about seven days.
Conrad Guerry, a training
coordinator for the Juvenile
Department, described it as a
safe and secure environment
where the young people won’t
harm themselves or others. He
said that sometimes when they
first came there, the kids were
pretty upset or anxious. They
were away from their friends and
their families and they weren’t
quite sure what was going to
happen next.
If what one needs is a struc
tured program, Skipworth has it.
The day is scheduled, with time
allowed for school, as well as for
free time and recreation.
Everyone wakes at 7:30 a.m.,
cleans his or her room in time for
breakfast at eight.
Then at nine, those who need it
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begin school. School hours are
interspersed with other ac
tivities. There is a half-hour
break at 10:30, an hour break for
lunch and free time, another hour
for P.E. There is a large group
meeting daily, at which they
decide or discuss the activities
that will be happening, and there
is another hour of free time
before dinner.
Every evening Skipworth has
some kind of optional program
activity. On Monday nights there
is a grooming class, on Tuesday
there is a cooking class for be
tween four and six people. On
Wednesday and Thursday there
are arts and crafts. There are
also a few special programs, such
as a summer camping program,
and art instruction by an in
structor from the Maude Kerns
Art Center.
Becuse of the nature of the
institution, because many of
those there have committed not
merely children’s offenses, but
offenses of a more serious
nature; and because many of the
residents did not come of their
own accord, the residents are
under some kind of supervision
unless they are in their own
rooms. They can’t go out of doors
without staff members being
present. There can’t be more
than two in the gym without a
staff member. Visitation hours
are also limited. Visitation is on
three days a week, and is limited
to family members only.
Looking Glass is less closely
supervised; all of the residents
are there voluntarily. It is con
sidered more as an association of
equals. Generally the
houseparents and the kids eat
dinner together and everyone
takes care of himself for the other
two meals.
Residents are fairly free to
come and go as they please, and
to hring guests to the house. They
are expected to be back by ten on
week nights and by midnight on
weekends. They are expected to
be committed to working out a
solution to the problem which
brought them there in the first
place.
But neither Skipworth nor
Looking Glass limit their ser
vices to the residents. Most of the
young people referred to the
Juvenile department are
released and a report is given to
the intake counselor of the
Juvenile Department. In 1972,
only 1,295 out of the 5,570 referred
were admitted to detention. The
counselor will either just notify
the parents of the report and offer
assistance, or will ask the
juvenile and her or his parents
for an interview. Often from this,
the juvenile is referred to another
agency or is offered counseling
services. The department has
community service workers in a
team, with counselors and police
officers, working in the schools to
catch problems and deal with
them before they get more
serious. There is a parent
education group run by coun
selors in parent effectiveness,
and there are various family
therapies.
Looking Glass also does
counseling; family, individual,
and group. It gives school and job
assistance, temporary shelter to
those who need it; and it helps to
place people in group or foster
homes.
“Kids are dealing with more
these days,” Wames said. They
are “14 going on 25.” If they run
away it is not always the parents’
fault, it is just that the kids are
going through a lot of changes,
she said.
Warnes started Looking Glass
at 18 by having an idea, and by
surrounding herself with capable
and dedicated people. They are
still going strong, but they rely on
programs such as ESCAPE, and
volunteers to a large extent.
Right now they need qualified
counselors and foster parents,
preferably younger couples or
individuals. They encourage
those interested to volunteer
their help.