Wasted youth

The Observation and Assessment Center is a 45-day program where young people get a psychiatric evaluation, a medical check, an assessment of their educational abilities and 24-hour observation. Counselors talk about addictions, anger management and family issues. Offenders go to school.

The facility has 24 beds, for 16 boys and eight girls, and almost all have drug or alcohol issues, said Anne Nelsen, the program's director.

"The benefit of this is the 24/7 observation," Nelsen said. It's one thing to take a battery of psychological tests. "It's a whole other thing to watch their behavior — how they do with their peers, how they do with their parents and how they deal with authority," she said.

At the end of the 45 days, the program recommends the best course of action for a youth offender. Some will go to a lockdown secure facility like Decker Lake. Others who have made progress may go to proctor homes — much like foster homes — and then back home.

"It's like a second chance," says Thomas.

The counselors there tell it to them straight, Tony says. "They tell us, 'This is what you can do in life if you stop drinking and doing all this stuff. Look how good you can be. Look how famous you can be."

Tony wants to get back on that football team. Thomas says he's young, and pretty smart. "I could go to college."

---

E-mail: lucy@desnews.com