Skipworth attempts to aid troubled
kids before they become hard-core
By Michael Schmieman
Emerald Contributor
At a time when many parents,
judges and police officers are
convinced that most of Lane
County's youths are doomed to
violent lives full of hard drugs
and social diseases, a man
responsible for providing
shelter for the most hostile of
these children says today's kids
are not so bad.
‘‘This is not a district that is
loaded with hard-core delin
quents,” said Frank Mills,
superintendent of Skipworth
Juvenile Home. "These kids are
definitely salvageable. There is
absolutely no question about
the fact that we are turning
around an awful lot of kids.”
The primary function of the
county's juvenile detention
center located at 2411 Centen
nial Ulvd. is to provide tem
porary care for children
awaiting trial and/or placement
in foster homes.
Skipworth's responsibilities
include protecting the (.(im
munity from the destructive
behavior of malicious youths,
providing an environment con
ducive to normal development,
and assuring immediate ac
cessibility of those children to
the juvenile court, which is in
the same building.
According to Mills, most
"students,” the term he prefers,
return home under some type of
supervision provided by local
or state agencies such as the
Children's Services Division.
Those convicted of serious
crimes and who continue to
have discipline problems are
sent to state training school.
Others, who have no suitable
home to return to, are placed in
group homes often located on
farms or ranches. Some end up
in the state mental hospital in
Salem.
Mills said children with a
history of starting fires are par
ticularly difficult to place.
Although the average length
of detention is 15 days, Mills
explained this figure is
misleading because it includes
children who are held only a
matter of hours before being
released to their parents, and
others who are permitted to
serve sentences by checking
themselves in on consecutive
weekends. Mills said it is not
uncommon for a youth to spend
two or three months at the
facility.
After running away from
home several times and
violating the conditions of his
probation on a shoplifting
charge Shan Cuellar, 14, wound
up spending eight months in
the detention center.
“A lot of kids will say they
have been in Skipworth when
they really haven’t,” Cuellar
said. "But I can tell when they
are lying because they talk
about what a tough place it is.
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Anybody who’s been in there
knows it's not tough at all.”
Cuellar, who was released in
December, said many kids act
"bad" for the first week or two
because they are scared and
don't know what to expect.
“They come through the door
full of rage," confirmed Mills,
adding the "warm, caring, and
understanding staff" help
dissipate the anger quickly.
School, group counseling ses
sions and daily chores fill most
of the weekdays in Skipworth.
Weekends consist of leisure
time, movies on Friday and
Saturday night, occasional
special events or trips, and
family visitations on Sunday
afternoon.
The counseling sessions and
chores are mandatory; the rest
are considered privileges that
can be lost with disruptive
behavior.
Two full-time teachers and
two aides paid by Lane Educa
apply themselves for the first
time and discover that they are
capable of being good students.
“This happens often enough
to make the job satisfying to
me," he said.
Currently the center houses
26 juveniles ranging in age from
12 to 17. All but two of them are
boys.
Normally a crew of three, two
men and one woman, provide
supervision from a communica
tion center. When the center is
particularly full, or particularly
active, another person is added.
In 1978, the Skipworth facili
ty had a staff of 90. Today, 35
people including part-time
child care workers and cooks,
cover three eight-hour shifts.
“In 1982, we lost seven group
counselors and our therapeutic
recreation specialist. We’ve
been operating under austere
fiscal conditions since,” Mills
said.
He said the current budget of
“In 10 years, I’ve seen only a half
dozen hard-core delinquents out of the
thousands who have come through here.
Most of them are neat, needy kids. So
meone can get to them.”
— Frank Mills,
Skipworth Superintendant
lion Service District (LESD)
conduct classe five days a week
from !) a.in. until 2:30 p in.
Mike Lynch. 41, taught in
middle and high schools for
four years before accepting a
position at Skipworth six years
ago.
"1 prefer this because I get to
work with smaller groups of
children and 1 think 1 have the
skills for working with troubled
kids." Lynch said.
"When a kid gets unruly I tell
him he is doing the kind ot
thing that will get him in trou
ble. and 1 give him a five
minute break to decide what he
wants to do. Sometimes that's
enough, but some days they are
determined that they are going
to fail. When that happens, they
spend most of the day locked in
their room and lose all their
privileges,” Lynch said.
According to Lynch. LESD
took over the program six years
ago, and the district became
more interested as it grew more
familiar with it. lie said the
district is committed to a
student-teacher ration of It) to
one, and sometimes adds a third
teacher when the budget
permits.
"These are the kids who nor
mally hide in the back of the
class, if they are in school at
all." Lynch said. "Here, if they
don’t want to be in class, their
only other choice is to be locked
in their rooms.”
Lynch said a lot of children
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about $900,000, roughly a third
of the Lane County Juvenile
Department’s total budget, will
provide a safe environment, but
will not allow as much in
dividual attention as many of
the children need.
Mills said that drugs are not
the main problem of today's
youth, but are one of many pro
blems. He believes, however,
that most of these problems
have solutions.
"In 10 years, I’ve seen only a
half dozen hard-core delin
quents out of the thousands
who have come through here,”
Mills said. "Most of them are
neat, needy kids. Someone can
get to them.”
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