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Homeward Bound
program cut
(October
2007 Issue)
By Phyllis Hanlon
In June, the Department of Youth Services (DYS) closed Homeward
Bound, a program that offered outdoor activities on Cape Cod to
teens who have been involved in criminal activity.
According to DYS Chief of Staff Mary Sylva, the department's budget
suffered a $5 million cut, prompting a re-evaluation of programs
and services while "trying to realize some efficiency." As a result,
Homeward Bound, as well as a pre-trial detention and a treatment
program, were eliminated.
Sylva notes that all three programs had been scheduled for re-bid.
However, the vendor refused to bid or extend the Homeward Bound
program for an additional three to six months. "DYS scrambled to
keep the program afloat but could not," she says. "Homeward Bound
came to a natural conclusion."
Although some parents expressed disappointment upon its closure,
Sylva indicates that Homeward Bound had some basic shortcomings
and had been underutilized for the last year. "It was hard to get
referrals," she says. "Court referrals posed a problem. Many times
they came with no background information on the kids. All the DYS
kids underwent a 30 to 45 day assessment period."
Also, while the DYS referrals had physical examinations prior to
admission, the court referrals did not. "It is a huge liability
to take kids without knowing their physical or mental health backgrounds,"
says Sylva.
Half the referrals came from the courts, while the other half came
from DYS, according to Sylva. The low enrollment made the program
too expensive to run.
"Also, Homeward Bound was okay in combination with other treatment
programs, but you couldn't change lives in 28 days [the length of
the program]. You have more success if kids have a longer time in
treatment," Sylva says.
Sometime in the future, DYS intends to resurrect a "scaled-down
version of the current Homeward Bound program," according to Sylva.
In the meantime, the department offers a similar, but longer-term
- three to six months - program with an experiential learning component.
"It is an intense substance abuse and a robust educational program.
We'd like to incorporate that into the new program," she says.
DYS would also like to create different programs for various regions
of the state. The recently-closed Homeward Bound took place on Cape
Cod, posing a challenge for children from the Worcester, Springfield,
Lowell and Lawrence areas. "Parents were reluctant to send their
kids to a remote location. It also made transportation difficult,"
says Sylva. "On re-bid, we'll make Homeward Bound a southeast program
that serves kids on Cape Cod and in the southeast part of the state.
It will be longer term with all the good components Homeward Bound
had." The original program featured a strong team-building module.
Sylva says that a committee will be formed and a Request for Response
(RFR) issued within three to four months. Given response and review
time, she anticipates launching a new program four to six months
later.
(Several attempts to reach parent advocate groups [Lisa Lambert
at PPAL and Andrea Watson from Parents for Residential Reform] for
comment were unsuccessful).
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