DYS GIVES SEMO $170,000 GRANT

The Missouri Division of Youth Services has awarded a $170,000 grant to Southeast Missouri State University's department of criminal justice to expand student tracking for delinquent youth to the entire Southeast Missouri region.

With this award, Southeast's student tracking program becomes the largest program of its kind in the state.

Six years ago, the criminal justice department developed a pilot program that paired college students with delinquents in an attempt to keep them out of institutions. With an initial $25,000 grant, carefully selected college students were trained and assigned to work with 10 delinquent youths in DYS custody.

"We had no idea what to expect at first when we made the first assignments," said Dr. Johnny McGaha, professor of criminal justice and project director of the tracking program. "To be honest, I was concerned with the delinquent youth, most of whom are very experienced in the juvenile justice system, would be too much to handle for our students. I was quickly proven wrong."

The program has exeeded all expectations and has now expanded to nine other colleges in every region of the state. It has been nationally recognized by the San Francisco-based National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) as "clearly one of the most innovative alternative programs for delinquent youth in operation today."

In 1994, NCCD sent consultants to Cape Girardeau and two other universities in the state to evaluate the project. They were so impressed with the program that they devoted a major publication to the project and distributed it nationally as a model program, McGaha said. The NCCD consultants' report also cites Southeast's program as being the most successful.

McGaha said the program doubled in size from its original $25,000 funding in 1990 to about $55,000 in 1992. The program has remained at that level until now.

With an additional $115,000 contract, which took effect July 1, Southeast now is able to coordinate DYS tracking services throughout the entire Southeast Missouri region.

"Obviously, due to the size of the area we are now asked to serve, we won't be relying solely on Southeast students," McGaha said. "We will also be working with Three Rivers Community College, the Bootheel Consortium and Mineral Area College to select students who will be transferring to Southeast upon graduation, so that we keep them in the program here. In some cases, where there are no students available, non-students will be considered."

Last year, 40 Southeast students worked with about 60 delinquent youths performing such duties as checking on curfews, serving as a big brother or sister when needed, monitoring school progress, visiting homes and parents and taking youths to recreational and social activities.

Said McGaha: "We thought these kids would resent having a tracker, but it has become somewhat of a status symbol among these youth to have their own student assigned to them. Some have even requested trackers.

"I think it is a matter of having someone in their lives, maybe for the first time, that will listen to and spend time with them."

Often, the students maintain contact with their "clients" long after the students have graduated, he said.