Youth development more than a name

On May 17, the Bangor Daily News published the article, “Center’s name too close for Mount View,” in which Dan Lee, superintendent of SAD 3, expressed his concern that the name of one of Maine’s juvenile correctional facilities bears too close a resemblance to that of Mount View High School.

As I read the article, it became apparent that Lee’s objections to the similarities in the names between Mount View High School and the Mountain View Youth Development Center were based on his misunderstandings of what the mission and purpose of the juvenile correctional facility are.

Youth committed to the Department of Correction will attest that being incarcerated is neither a “happy nor pleasant” experience. Victims of their crimes and the general public would agree that it shouldn’t be. It should, however, be meaningful, and help these youth change attitudes and behaviors, so that they may become a positive part of our society.

Maine’s juvenile correctional facilities – like their names imply – are designed to “develop youth.” The youth that end up in these facilities have numerous deficiencies in many areas of their lives. Whether these deficiencies are in their belief systems, and attitudes, are a result of upbringing or a result of trauma or mental illness or their abuse of drugs and alcohol, the crimes committed by them demonstrate a need to help these youth develop their thinking, moral reasoning, emotional well-being, and their overall ability to function effectively within society.

Helping these youth change behaviors and attitudes takes a tremendous amount of work from highly functional inter-disciplinary teams. Teams consisting of educators, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, medical staff, substance abuse counselors and professional correctional staff, trained in methods to work effectively with adolescents. All of whom were insulted by Lee’s callous remarks.

Change occurs within the residents of these facilities, because like everyone else, no one makes a conscious decision at 13 or 14 years old to become a criminal, with a life goal of “doing time.” The residents of these facilities work hard to develop the skills and competencies necessary to becoming successful adults; none of them would choose to be incarcerated, yet they made choices which resulted in their incarceration.

Many of the youth who end up being committed to the juvenile correctional facilities have experienced failure within the public school systems. About half of all youth committed have not attended school on a regular basis for several years. Facility testing demonstrates that most of these disenfranchised youth are average or above-average intelligence.

When asked about their lack of attendance, the majority reports a sense of disconnection that has resulted in their truancy.

Remarkably, the same kids who were labeled as difficult, lazy or otherwise, failures – in their own schools – thrive and make remarkable gains in the education programs at Mountain View Youth Development Center. This can partially be explained by the fact that the facility is highly structured, that the kids are clean and sober and receiving mental health services.

The most important part is, how-ever, that our education programs are geared to the individual learning styles. Education is tailored to the way the individual learns best. Just like adults, when these kids find success and accomplishment, in a way that meets their needs, they buy into the process and take ownership.

For years, public schools have taught kids the same way. They teach to the average student’s ability. Accelerated learners become bored due to lack of challenges. Others on the lower end of the mean, who are capable of learning but may need other methods, become frustrated, fall behind and are labeled as not trying hard enough, etc. The method of read the chapter, listen to the lecture, take notes, memorize the facts, and report back through written tests, which is still widely used as the primary method of instruction at high schools, is becoming more antiquated.

Thanks in large part due to Maine’s Learning Results, this is changing and many schools are becoming better equipped at meeting students’ learning styles. I hope that Maine will become a place where in fact no child is left behind.

Three years after the Legislature adopted the names for the new juvenile facilities, Lee became aware of the similarities. Mountain View Youth Development Center has fully established itself as a potential national model and has achieved great success in educational and juvenile correction practices.

Forget the costs of rewriting every statute, publishing name changes in law books, new signs, letterhead, stationery and business cards, Web pages and uniforms required to be completed in an official name change. Forget about the costs of legislative debate and discussion and countless hours required in getting a bill passed. However, do not forget the motivation, dedication and professionalism that have been put forth in the past three years by the staff working to make Mountain View Youth Development Center a premier juvenile facility of which all Maine citizens can be proud.

While we are proud of our achievements, we are also proud of the youth from Lee’s SAD 3 who have completed our program, learned from their experience and are now a productive part of the community.

Lawrence D. Austin is deputy superintendent of the Mountain View Youth Development Center in Charleston.