Pubdate: We, 25 Jul 2001 Source: Reno Gazette-Journal (NV) Copyright: 2001 Reno Gazette-Journal Contact: http://www.mapinc.org/media/363 Website: http://www.rgj.com/ Author: Andy Bourelle Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) TEEN DRUG CENTER ENDS FIRST YEAR SILVER SPRINGS -- Officials say the Western Nevada Regional Youth Center - -- a low-security drug, alcohol and mental health treatment facility serving five rural Nevada counties -- has been successful in its first year. "I've sent quite a few kids there, boys and girls, and I have been really very pleased with the results," said Douglas County District Judge Dave Gamble. "I had a young lady who, in addition to her own juvenile problems, has been removed from her family by the state because of their drug use. And she has been clean since she went there." With its construction funded by $1.25 million from the state Legislature, the 8,200-square-foot center opened last year near Silver Springs to serve Carson City, Douglas, Lyon, Storey and Churchill counties, filling a niche for treating juvenile offenders. The center was opened as an intermediate facility for teen-agers who might not have worked out on earlier probation efforts but still weren't ready for a long-term detention hall. The youth center is place where 13- to 18-year-old lawbreakers can be sent for drug, alcohol and mental health counseling and group therapy while taking academic and physical education courses. At the facility, there are security cameras, but the doors are not locked like at a detention center. The teen-agers typically spend 60 to 70 days in the facility. "Our whole purpose is to do short-term, high-impact, low-structure early intervention with kids," said Lon Cook, administrator of the youth center. "This is not a place to kill time or to just burn up another placement. This is a place to work." About $1 million a year from the counties keeps the center running. The first juveniles were ordered to the facility in mid-August 2000. Cook said the number of people in the facility has been consistently in the mid-20s, the ideal amount for the center. The facility could hold as many as 12 girls and 15 to 18 boys. The teen-agers come from across the five-county region. "If you look at the overall population of juveniles in any county, then it pretty well balances out." Cook said. "They're all over the map. We have families that come in here that are very wealthy, some that are middle class and some that have struggled all their lives. "We have Millennium scholar grant winners; we have kids that haven't been in school for two years." The facility also has two secure beds for serious offenders who need to stay only a few nights while awaiting an opening at another facility or for other reasons. Those beds are separate from the boys and girls who stay longer. Since the facility's opening, Cook said officials have added walk-in alcohol, drug and mental health screenings for teen-agers in the court system -- not just those in the center. Another addition, Cook said, is a one-year after-care program. This way, the teen-agers that have been graduated from the program can come back for counseling, group therapy sessions or even to stay for short periods. "It's real important they don't just drop off the edge of the Earth, and no one knows what's going on until they've committed another crime." In the first year, there have been few problems, Cook said. "We have not had a single fight in the last year, not had a single physical takedown or restraint," Cook said. "We had one runaway, and I blame myself for that because the kid that came here had a history of runaways, and we took a little bit of a gamble and took him in, trying to give a kid a chance. He bailed out, didn't hurt anybody, wasn't aggressive. They picked him up out over here in the desert about two miles down the road, brought him back immediately. "But that was the only one -- and remember this place is not locked. They can walk off anytime they want." - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk