Juvenile defenders teach hard lessons
by Shannon Harrison, ne news editor

     Sitting in a classroom last week on NE Campus listening to four young men from McFadden Ranch, a correctional facility, the audience could not help but realize how good their own lives were.
     The young men from the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) are members of a speaker team that drives to different facilities to tell their stories in hopes of helping other young people get their lives together before it is too late.
     As each told his story, it became apparent that they all had similar backgrounds. Most of their family members used drugs and didn’t care if the young men did.
     Also, most of their parents were separated, and their guardians were never around. With no support, they turned to the streets.
     The audience seemed astounded as one young man told of his heroin use at age 11. From there he was expelled from school, experimented with other drugs and lived on the streets for three years.
     “My mother never forced me to go home, and my father hadn’t been there for two years,” he said.
     Apparently, without any love or support, he turned to the one place he felt needed, the streets. At the age of 13, he was arrested. But upon his release a month later, he ran away from home again, and his mom hid him from his probation officer.
     When he was 14, his mother’s boyfriend was either on drugs all the time or not around, but his dad came back and tried to help him get off drugs. However, his dad did drugs, so the young man did not see a reason to stop.
     Soon, he found himself on the streets for the third time. One day, he was summoned home and discovered that his mom’s boyfriend had died of a heroin overdose.
     This incident did not help him change his mind about drug use. He was arrested again for violation of probation and put on house arrest for 12 months.
     Also at 14, he was sent to boot camp for eight months. However, that incarceration did not help.
     “All I had to do was say I was going to change and they let me go,” he said.
As soon as he was back on the street, he started using drugs again. He started stealing and robbing people, and even committed burglary. The police found him and sent him to a juvenile home for two months. After his two-month stint, he was picked to live at the TYC until he turns 21.
     When asked about his ultimate goal, he replied, “I just want to go to school and make it on my own.”
     These young men are among the lucky few that get selected to attend McFadden Ranch. The correctional facility provides treatment to 48 medium-risk offenders, ages 14-18, who have been adjudicated by the juvenile court system to the TYC in Roanoke.
     The program takes an active role in the drug and alcohol treatment of its youth. All youth residing at McFadden Ranch have been assessed as having a substance abuse problem.
     The goal of the speaker team is to meet the needs of the community in the areas of education, prevention, awareness, parental involvement and deterrence.
     The speaker team members are selected based on their place in the phase system (with the highest phase being students near the end of the program), consistency in the program and willingness to want to help others. This program gives the youths an opportunity to give back to their communities, which is part of the TYC resocialization program.
     “The kids may or may not be locked up until they turn 21,” Doug, a volunteer said. “However, they have to keep in contact with us until then.”
     When an audience member asked if they had family support, one of the young men answered, “When I did something wrong my dad beat me.”
     While the young people live at McFadden Ranch, they meet with core groups. In these groups they talk about their lives, but all information stays confidential in that group.
     The group helps the young men come to terms with their lives and gives them the confidence to talk in front of other people.
     “McFadden Ranch is successful because it is a great mentoring program,” Doug said. “They get to go to sports events, NASCAR races and rodeos,” he said.
     “McFadden Ranch is an opportunity for the kids to better their lives.” Doug said. “They are allowed three phone calls a month to their families. Radios and televisions are not allowed. They have 16-hour structural nights, a caseworker and step classes.”
     “They are basically good kids who want to improve their lives,” he said.