Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 22, 1993 TAG: 9310260310
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Long
Now they are ready to take their ideas to the public. Nearly 100 people have been invited to a meeting Tuesday at Pulaski County High School to hear the proposal for a shelter that could house eight to 10 boys and girls at a time for up to five days. House parents would be assigned to the shelter along with case managers, graduate-level interns and volunteers.
``These kids don't fit any of the criteria for existing agency services,'' said Brenda Conner, juvenile intervention specialist with the town of Pulaski.
That's why the agencies are now seeking away to ease the common frustration of watching kids fall between the cracks.
The shelter would take youths up to age 18, but most of the youths will probably range from 12 to 17.
Admission to the shelter would be voluntary, according to preliminary plans. It would not involve foster care, detention, or forcing a child to leave a home. It would involve parents or guardians.
The shelter would be governed by a board of directors, seven to 15 people to be nominated by a steering committee. The board would be responsible for policy, fiscal management and other needs.
The study group describes the project as a community-based temporary shelter for Pulaski County youth in crisis, providing child-centered, family- focused resources to help the child and family resolve their problems.
The various agencies involved in the study came together as some of their representatives, in talking with one another, found themselves facing a common problem: what to do with young people facing a crisis and having no place to go.
``We would find children where it was not safe for them to return home,'' said Dave Bell, who works with pupils and personnel in the county school system. ``The only course we had, and still have to this point in time, is to make referral to Social Services.''
A shelter would provide a way to help families before ``the system'' must get involved, he said.
Superintendent William Asbury said schools are seeing more at-risk children than ever before, in home situations that could often be described as horrible.
``And we're losing them, if we don't do something that's very positive and give them a life raft to hang onto,'' he said. ``This is happening in more families than people ever imagine.''
Conner told of one child who simply camped out in the woods to get away from pressures until he got hungry. Another found temporary shelter at the Women's Resource Center in Radford. Some simply remain at home in intolerable situations.
The shelter will not solve all youth problems by any means, said Vicky Collins, youth service representative to the Community Services Board. ``Hopefully, this shelter will add to our menu of resources,'' she said, ``filling a gap that's been in our community for a long time.''
Study group members in addition to Bell, Asbury, Conner and Collins have included Jim Wallis, director, and Ellen Moore, supervisor, with the Department of Social Services; Robert Sisk, 27th District Court Services Unit; Dreama Thomas, Office on Youth; Janet Johnson, New River Community Action; Freddy Blevins, Alternative School director, and Harry DeHaven, operations director, with Pulaski County schools.
Shelter initiatives would not take the place of Social Services, Collins said. ``Our job is not to do their job.'' But it would provide help for young people that do not fall within Social Services criteria for assistance.
It would keep those young people from falling through the cracks in the system, she said.
Bell said it could allow time to involve other family members, relatives, ministers or others who could help solve the problem at a lower level, drawing on resources that the official agencies do not use.
``That step would also weed out the kids who got mad and left home because they didn't want to do the dishes,'' Conner said.
Collins said Pulaski County has few foster families at this time to take in children on a temporary basis. There are group homes in neighboring localities, but they generally require agencies to refer young people to them, they're costly and, she said, ``none of those are nearby.''
This youth shelter will probably save the county money in the long run by heading off long-term and short-term placements in more expensive places and by solving the problem with the lowest involvement of agencies, Bell said.
Officials also hope it will help head off such problems as truancy, school failure, substance abuse, delinquency, family violence and violence outside the family, and runaways. All those have their own social and financial costs.
``This whole process is going to have to depend on resources we don't have,'' Asbury said. ``The big one is money.''
There had been plans to use a section of Jefferson Elementary School, which closed at the end of the 1992-93 year, to house the shelter initially. The group now thinks a real home would be better, if one can be found.
The shelter board will immediately pursue tax-exempt status when it is set up, so contributions can be tax-deductible.
How soon the shelter becomes a reality apparently depends on when money becomes available. Grants will also be sought from various sources.
``I think this project will be unique,'' Asbury said. ``And it's for all the right reasons. It's growing up from the grass roots. It's not coming from a bureaucratic mandate.''
Conner said members of the study group have visited shelters in other areas, but have not found one exactly like what is planned for Pulaski County.
``Who knows? If we're successful, maybe we'll be a model for someone else to copy,'' she said.
Tuesday's breakfast meeting will begin at 7:30 a.m. in the Cougar Den of Pulaski County High School.
Those interested in attending should telephone Conner at 980-1000.
by CNB