Youth facility expanding
ALLEGHENY TWP — Business is growing for a youth residential treatment facility a little more than a year after its opening.
Reflecting that success at Western PA Child Care off Oneida Valley Road is a planned expansion of 24 beds this spring.
That will bring the bed total to 96 used for male and female youths, ages 10 to 20, who are serving court-ordered stays.
Jeff Giovino, president of Mid-Atlantic Youth Services, which operates the facility, said there are 72 youths housed in the building, with a waiting list of about 30.
Giovino said the addition would be built behind the building. He hopes to start construction early in 2007 so the expansion could be completed in the spring. There is no cost estimate for the work yet.
The center offers secure residential treatment for youth ages 12 to 20 who are a flight risk or have committed a serious crime. Those in the secure area stay an average of 6Z\x months.
Another facet, the shelter program, is for youth ages 10 to 18 temporarily awaiting to be assigned to a court-ordered location for treatment. They stay an average of 20 days, Giovino said.
Because sheltered youths aren't there long, they don't receive treatment as the secure residents do.
Along with expanding the secure detention area by 12 beds, a new, nonsecure area of 12 will be built. Giovino said that area would be for youths who aren't a flight risk but require court-ordered treatment.
Youths serving in secure residential treatment could earn their way into the nonsecure area to finish their stays, he said.Residents of the facility have access to indoor and outdoor recreation areas. A full-time physical education instructor conducts gym classes.Adjacent to the indoor gym is a room with cardiovascular exercise equipment.Giovino said the low-impact machines, including treadmills and an exercise bike, are often used by female residents who don't want to play sports.Creativity is encouraged. Budding artists are in the process of painting a mural in the gym.As part of the treatment program, Mid-Atlantic Youth Service instructors teach the youths.Categorized as alternative education, the facility isn't required to use only instructors with teaching certificates. However, Mid-Atlantic does require its teachers to be certified with the state.The facility's educational program is overseen by the Allegheny-Clarion Valley School District. The district makes monthly visits to the facility, reviewing classroom activity and curriculum.The facility has various partners in offering programs and treatment.Clarion County Career Links offers programs for the youths, including GED courses to get high school diplomas.
The facility also has a program with Butler County Community College and Butler Memorial Hospital in which nursing students serve internships working with the juveniles. A medical unit is staffed by a nurse 16 hours a day.Slippery Rock University conducts dance classes at the facility.For the religious, a local minister holds nondenominational services.The youths are serviced in groups of 12. Each group lives in a pod with separate bedrooms,They engage in activities together, including classes, recreation and meals.The secure and shelter areas each include a cafeteria.Giovino estimates that 400 youths have stayed at the facility since it opened in September 2005.He said only 25 percent of former residents have gotten into trouble with the law following their stays."Seventy-five percent are not re-offending when they leave," Giovino said.And all of the residents have finished their stays.Giovino said teaching the youths to be responsible for themselves is the idea of residential treatment."Our whole goal is to be contributors to the community and some of our programs reflect that," he said.Any complaints by the residents are reviewed by the state Department of Public Welfare, which annually licenses the facility."Any complaint matters to us," Giovino said.With cameras throughout the facility, any potential incident would be recorded.The expansion also will increase the current staff of about 100 by another 25.Although the facility has developed a core group of employees, there has been some turnover.Giovino said about 50 percent of the staff has changed since the facility opened. He explained there isn't sufficient training at the college level for dealing with troubled youth.
Since many employees are starting from scratch, some people have to try working at such residential facilities before they realize it's not what they want to do, he said.However, Giovino is confident the now-experienced core group is in a position to help new employees make any adjustments.Greg Zappala, co-owner of Western PA Childcare, said the facility is housing youths from 27 Pennsylvania counties and Maryland without having any major issues."We've had no problems — knock on wood," he said.Zappala said the facility's 28 contracts with the various counties, including Erie, Philadelphia and Allegheny—along with one state — indicate it's meeting their needs.Female treatment is a unique service, he said.Less secure facilities in Butler County have experienced problems ranging from escapes to acts of violence."If it wasn't providing a good service, there wouldn't be a waiting list," Zappala said.The impact of the center's programming is apparent in how the youths greet visitors. If not engaged in a classroom activity, the young residents shake hands with visitors.Giovino said the juveniles are taught to walk with confidence and make eye contact."They didn't do that prior to coming to us," he said. "They didn't take great interest in other people."But upon staying at the center, the juveniles learn how to communicate with others, he said.Giovino said the feedback he's received from such sources as probation officers have been positive.In the future, surveys will be available for families to give direct feedback.Weekly visits are permitted for families who are within driving distance. People needing rides to the facility are picked up by the staff.As part of the treatment process, a therapist uses such visits as opportunities to talk with an entire family, which often has problems at home. For family members who can't make it there in person, conference calls are arranged.Giovino said one of the facility's objectives is to reunify the family, even dysfunctional ones."The reality is the kid is going back to that environment," he said.Even youths coming from such situations as abuse, neglect and poverty are taught they still have the choice to make good decisions in their lives.For community service work, female youths knit blankets that are donated to hospitals.Giovino plans on expanding the residents' community service once the nonsecure area is opened in 2007.
Tom Holman, Butler County deputy court administrator, said the facility meets all security needs of the county and is close to the county courts that place the youths there.Although the courts want juveniles in the least secure placement possible, some of them need to be housed in secure detention, Holman said.Following a quiet year, the facility's neighbors at the Allegheny-Clarion Valley Industrial Park and surrounding area don't have a problem with it."There have been no complaints from local businesses or residences," Giovino said.State police confirm they have not been called to the facility since its opening.However, Giovino said the most telling sign of the facility's effectiveness is that juveniles are not returning,"The kids are succeeding," he said.<br></br>
