By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
Thirty years ago, the Wood County Juvenile Residential Center of Northwest Ohio was the answer to a rising problem: juveniles were committing crimes previously committed by adults.
“The juvenile court system didn’t know what to do to handle them,” retired Wood County Judge Robert Pollex recently recalled. “On the one hand, there had to be some punishment commensurate with the crime but on the other hand, juveniles were to be treated and rehabilitated rather than locked up.”
Because the juvenile judges across the state disagreed on how to handle such cases, Pollex, the juvenile and probate judge at the time, said the state stepped in to fund creative concepts that didn’t follow the traditional adult lock-up approach.
In 1994, the $2.65 million, 28,000-square-foot Juvenile Residential Center was designed to have a residential and treatment component. A 10-county, regional concept that became the Juvenile Residential Center of Northwest Ohio was established since each county could not afford its own facility, he said.
Now, 30 years later, the rehabilitation/treatment model is still in place and making a difference for a high percentage of the residents.
JRC provides an important, longer-term residential option for youth and families “as opposed to simply detaining youth with somewhat limited programs, counseling or treatments,” said Wood County Juvenile Judge David Woessner.
“Every young person is different, and every story is different. Sometimes when a person has committed an offense you need another option like JRC as opposed to sending them off to the Department of Youth Services for a significant period of time,” he said. “JRC is yet another option, and from my experience with juvenile cases, the more options you have, the better the results,” he said.
A recent recidivism study for JRC showed repeat offenses have dropped significantly, with an 83% success rate after three years of release, said Executive Director Montana Crawford.
“We deal with such a diverse population and knowing what they are coming in with, we were really happy that we are averaging a really good, solid ‘B’,” he said. Other programs aren’t as successful.
The building looks similar to the 1994 facility with 42 beds, several classrooms, recreational spaces, medical clinic, kitchen area, library and media rooms, and offices. The initial age range of 14-18 year olds has been broadened to include 12- and 13 year olds, all who are ordered by juvenile court judges to participate in the JRC program.
Ten counties are included in the primary service area, though judges from other counties across the state often remand youth to the Bowling Green facility because of its state certified treatment programs for crimes such as sexual offenses.
Though the youths are secured in their individual rooms from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., or if they need to “deescalate (their behaviors) or collect themselves,” Crawford said, their daily schedules are rigorous.
School is a year-round requirement, with classes taught from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. by dedicated Wood County Educational Service Center teachers, who have been at JRC since the doors opened, he said.
The school is set up like a high school, with the students switching classrooms for subject-specific lessons. Because the youths are often deficient in grades and skill levels, the teachers work a lot on organization, study tables, habits, grade tracking, and “homework every night, which the kids love,” Crawford said.
There is time for recreation twice a day in the gym, in the courtyard or weight room. The boys play volleyball, basketball and kickball or lift weights for exercise. They also have activities in the general meeting area, which include pet therapy, movie night and church.
Individual, group and family counseling, and case management also are part of each youth’s treatment plan at JRC. Group therapy sessions focus on cognitive behavior, substance use, delinquent behavior or problematic sexual behavior, he said.
JRC is not a detention center
The Juvenile Residential Center sits on the same Dunbridge Road campus as the Juvenile Detention Center and Juvenile Court, which sometimes leads to confusion about the differences.
The detention center is a short-term, temporary holding facility. Juvenile judges sentence youths for usually 30 to 90 days, Crawford said.
“At JRC, we don’t have a set sentence. Here it is a juvenile judge ordering them to successfully complete the program,” he said. There is a more intensive treatment component at JRC that may last from six months to a year or more, depending on their situation.
That’s why treatment and counseling are important to the residents’ rehabilitation process, Crawford said. It is also the area that has changed the most over the 30 years to keep pace with research and reality, he added.
The JRC population used to be kids with singular issues who had to work on anger or substance use behaviors. Today’s youths “are presenting with so much more complex, intense mental health concerns,” he said. Often, they are into “very significant drugs” beyond drinking and marijuana use.
Mental health concerns increase
An increasing number of the residents are also diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder (FASD), which includes a range of physical, behavioral and cognitive impairments due to alcohol exposure before birth.
“Research has estimated that 60% of youth incarcerated are on the FASD spectrum,” Crawford said. FASD became a focus four years ago when they learned that behavioral issues may be more than hostility.
“Those kids who are defiant or aren’t going to put in the effort are impaired in processing speech, recall and memory. The issues are much more complex, so we’ve had to adapt,” he said. The staff is involved in extensive training regarding FASD.
Mental health issues have become a primary focus of treatment programs at JRC. Strong partnerships with OhioGuidestone, the Wood County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services, and the University of Toledo Medical Center, have enhanced the treatment options available to the center.
Overall, the center staff is spending more time diving into what each youth needs specifically to help them be more successful, Crawford said. In addition to cognitive behavior therapy, they are expanding into trauma-specific work and other modalities.
With a staff of about 40 people to cover the 24/7/365 operations, Crawford said the center is known for being efficient, with a per diem cost of $220 per day. “Out of 11 community corrections facilities, our rates are the lowest,” he said.
Dr. Laura Fullenkamp of WCADAMHS is helping to train JRC counselors to use biofeedback to help with emotion regulation and will eventually add neurofeedback to their toolkits.
Once a month, JRC has a time slot at UTMC for a resident to receive full neurological-psychological testing
Chase Freyer, who started 10 years ago in direct care and is now involved in admissions, w said, “We’ve gone from very corrections-based to being more aware of mental health issues of the kids.”
He admits youths from the 10 catchment counties and takes referrals from other counties as well. In June, residents at JRC represented 23 of Ohio’s 88 counties.
On the front end of the process, Freyer talks with the youth and assesses their situations. He also spends time with the parents to explain the rules.
“It’s a stressful process for everyone. For the parents, they are leaving their kid here with total strangers,” Freyer said. “I assure them we are not locking them in a room and leaving them there.”
Relationship building is one of the strong points at the facility, Freyer said. He’s proud of the relationships he builds with the young men. It’s rewarding to hear about their successes after they graduate from the program.
“They will call back and tell me what they are doing. ‘I’m in track.’ Or ‘I’ve got a job.’ That’s the biggest win we can get here, working with the kids to get them back in the community,” Freyer said.
The judges from the 10 catchment counties are “super involved and support the program without any waiver,” Crawford said. “They see the result from Day 1, and how the youths are overwhelmingly successful when they go back home.”
“There have been many youths that have come out of that program who have benefitted from the program,” Woessner said. “Even if they do come back to court for something else, they’ve been provided with education and training, they know what they need to do.”
Woessner believes the community should be grateful that Wood County, specifically Bowling Green, is home to the youth treatment and rehabilitation facility. What was considered “a novel concept” 30 years ago has grown into a very strong program. “That’s a positive thing,” he said.
“The entire system is set up to build responsibility in the students, which we can see as they progress,” Crawford said. “We are a corrections facility, but our goal is to help these kids get better, so if we aren’t doing that every day then what’s the purpose?”
