DIVISION OF YOUTH SERVICES, UNIVERSITY COMBINE IN CENTER

The SEMO Community Treatment Center doesn't have high visibility, but that suits the Missouri Division of Youth Services just fine.

The new center at 609 N. Middle has been in operation since December. The $1 million complex, consisting of two residential cottages and an administrative building, was financed by the Southeast Missouri University Foundation. The Division of Youth Services (DYS) has a 15-year lease-purchase agreement with the university, after which the complex will become the property of DYS.

The facility is adjacent to a Southeast Missouri State University parking lot but it fronts Middle Street.

James L. Davis, manager of the youth center, said that having the facility in a residential area allows for privacy while at the same making it accessible to the university campus.

Through a program called Operation Involvement, Southeast students have been assisting DYS staff in working with troubled youths.

"Missouri is very innovative and very advanced in juvenile treatment," said Davis. "I think we are among the leaders in the nation."

He said the center here is the only one in the state built with such a university-state partnership.

The complex, which encompasses 15,000 square feet, replaced two group homes and a family resource unit, all of which had been housed in rented quarters in Cape Girardeau. The two group homes had been housed in old buildings that were continually in need of repair.

A day-treatment program now housed in a university-owned building on Henderson Avenue will be moved to the complex later this year. Davis said plans call for the day-treatment program to be moved to the basement of the new administration building prior to a scheduled open house on June 25.

Cape Girardeau realtor Tom M. Meyer, who previously served as president of the youth services Community Liaison Council, said the facility is unique. "It has the features of an administrative type building, but it has the home-like environment that the kids need to identify with," he said.

The council serves as a support group for the youth services center.

The facility's two residential buildings house a total of 22 boys while the day-treatment program involves 15 youngsters, both male and female. All of the youths treated are in the 12-to-17 age range.

The center has a staff of 28, not counting university students.

John McGaha, associate professor of criminal justice at Southeast and president of the youth center's Community Liaison Council, said about 50 Southeast students have worked with about 45 youngsters through Operation Involvement since last July.

Under the program, students work with youths, monitoring their activities and spending time with them after school.

Another part of Operation Involvement is Proctor Care, in which youngsters live with Southeast students. "It's a foster brother-sister program with DYS kids that for some reason can't live at home," explained McGaha.

Since last July, six Southeast students have dealt with a total of 12 DYS youngsters through Proctor Care.

Operation Involvement receives funding through the state, currently amounting to $15,000 for the Proctor Care program and $35,000 for the tracking services. The money is used to pay the university students who are involved in the treatment program, McGaha said.

He said the program, which has been in operation at Southeast for 2 years, has been a prototype for state-university cooperation in regards to youth services. "We are kind of the model," he said.

"It is good for DYS because our students are really eager and enthusiastic and fresh," he said.

He said the new treatment facility has been a boost to morale of youth services employees. "You can tell the whole atmosphere over there is much different. The morale is higher."

McGaha said the Community Liaison Council is designed to help educate the community about the treatment programs.

Meyer said the facility is a welcome addition to the Middle Street- Washington Elementary School neighborhood.

He said a partnership is developing between the Washington School Parent Teachers Association and the Community Liaison Council, which should benefit both entities. He said the two groups are already looking at a joint fund-raiser a garage sale and flea market.

"The area of the Washington School district has been improving greatly over the past five to seven years, and this (treatment center) is just another item that continues that positive growth feature," said Meyer.