CHARLESTON – Maine Corrections officials have put together the best juvenile program in the country and have new buildings in which to serve the program, but the overall success will depend upon its delivery.

Staff members at the Mountain View Youth Development Center, the former Northern Maine Regional Juvenile Detention Facility, on Monday received a pep talk from Gov. Angus King during his first tour of the $25 million facility.

“You have one of the most important and one of the hardest jobs in the state of Maine,” King told the facility’s employees, who had gathered in a gymnasium on campus in anticipation of his visit. Their challenge, he said, is to set the “tone and culture” of the new facility. King described their role as an “incredible” once-in-a-lifetime challenge to fundamentally change the way to deal with juveniles and noted that the results of their efforts will show in the future.

Among those accompanying King on his visit were Martin Magnusson, commissioner of the Department of Corrections; Denise Lord and Bartlett “Barry” Stoodley Jr., both DOC associate commissioners; Eric Hanson, superintendent of operations at Charleston; Larry Austin, deputy superintendent of operations, and Steve Berry, supervisor of the adult facility.

King said Monday that he told anyone who would listen four years ago that he wanted Maine to have the best criminal justice system and juvenile program in the country. Under his tenure, a major overhaul of the corrections system was begun and today four major correctional facility projects are under construction at Charleston, Warren, Windham and South Portland.

“This was all built with cash,” King said, sweeping his hands outward while touring the Charleston facility. The state saved considerable money using prison inmate labor to construct furniture for the new facilities, he explained.

The 176,000 square-foot Charleston facility, which is being constructed very similarly to the Long Creek Youth Development Center, the former Maine Youth Center in South Portland, will house 140 juveniles. The new construction at Charleston enveloped the former juvenile facility, where 37 youngsters are currently housed. In mid-December, the first wave of 50 newcomers will arrive at the facility in Penobscot County.

A staff of 175 will work with the juveniles under the new program, which focuses more on rehabilitation and improving long-term thinking skills and less on so-called “reality therapy,” which has allowed juvenile offenders to gain their freedom by earning credits for acceptable behavior. And for the first time, there will be a collaboration of services from substance abuse to mental health, both in-house and later in the community to help reduce recidivism.

The recidivism rate for first-time juvenile offenders in 1998, the first year the rate was tracked, was 28 percent, according to Stoodley. The new program will provide additional tracking of the juveniles.

The change in juvenile corrections is a drastic one. Youngsters will no longer be clumped together into a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits all program, but will have individualized programs designed for them in state-of-the-art, school-type settings.

Juveniles will study traditional subjects in large bright rooms, some with skylights, during the morning hours followed after lunch by participation in a variety of life skills, from computers to small engine repair. Spending a day in bed is not an option for the juveniles, according to Hanson.

At night, the juveniles will sleep in individual cells that offer degrees of comfort depending upon a juvenile’s security status and good behavior. The building houses a security perimeter. Portions of fencing that previously secured the South Portland facility have been shipped to Charleston and are being erected around athletic fields by the Army National Guard.

As important as the individualized programs are, King also saw a need for two facilities to serve the state. “We want to use the resources of the families and try to have a closer connection,” he said. Because of the travel distance, some parents never visited their children while they were in the South Portland facility, King noted. Juvenile offenders from Augusta to Fort Kent will be housed at Charleston and from Augusta south will be housed in the South Portland facility. In addition, video conferencing also will play a key role in ensuring that families maintain contact with the facility and the specialists.

The children who are housed in the state’s two juvenile facilities are ages 11-21. The length of stay for juveniles depends upon whether they are being held for detention purposes or have been adjudicated by the justice system. Those detained can remain from one night to several weeks, while those convicted of crimes are sentenced to an indeterminate length of time or, in some instances, until they turn 21.

Austin said his new staff was anxious to begin working with the juveniles. “It’s been a long process to get to this time and I think everyone is anxious to progress from this point,” he said. His annual operational budget is $11 million, which provides a significant investment into the local economy.

“I really see we are posed to be the national leader in the field of juvenile justice,” Austin said.