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Highlands Today

Lives In The Balance

Jesse Osbourne/Highlands Today

Pete Zeegers, facility administrator at Avon Park Youth Academy, helps watch over the youth in the program. APYA is a detention center where juvenile offenders can obtain vocational and occupational training.

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By MANDY SHEETS | Highlands Today

Published: October 28, 2007

AVON PARK — Walking through Avon Park Youth Academy, it's easy to forget you are surrounded by convicted felons.

Teenage boys respond to questions with "Yes, ma'am" and "No, sir," they work together on projects and ask their instructors questions.

But the fence topped by razor wire reminds the residents they are forced to be there.

Right now the 200-bed facility is almost at capacity, with 196 residents from areas throughout the state who were placed there by the Department of Juvenile Justice.

The offenders are 16-18 years old and are determined to be a moderate risk to public safety.

Pete Zeegers, facility administrator for APYA, said most of the residents are convicted of crimes like theft, breaking and entering, burglary and grand theft auto.

Judge J. Michael McCarthy works with all juvenile cases in the Tenth Judicial District, which includes Highlands County, and said most of the crimes he sees are minor.

"It's a lot of stupid stuff – petty theft, a lot of shoplifting, fighting at school, some drugs and drinking underage," McCarthy said.

From reviewing the case files, McCarthy said the most common thread in these boys' lives is dysfunctional families.

"A lot of cases I see are kids who don't have good guidance, leadership and nurturing," McCarthy said. "Bad kids are usually not that way unless they lack discipline or have other problems floating around."

The offenders are typically resistant to authority as well, McCarthy said.

"Defiance is almost always a problem," McCarthy said. "I think it's something they see at home and think they can copy."

Sometimes just being arrested and going through the judicial system is enough to "scare a kid straight," McCarthy said, noting he only has about six offenders he has seen more than once this year.

Although some cases can be handled with a verbal reprimand or probation, the more severe cases require residential commitment.

Intake

Static comes across the walkie-talkie, then a voice announces, "We have an intake."

Betty Windsor, coordinator of the store at APYA, grabs a white, mesh bag marked large. Inside are three pairs of boxers, three pairs of socks, three pairs of pants and three T-shirts.

"It's everything they need," Windsor said.

She trades that bag, some generic personal hygiene supplies and linens for all of the young man's personal effects, which she stores in a cubby until his release. For the next nine months, they won't need them.

"These kids are used to getting what they want, and now all the sudden they are told when to get up and when to go to bed, and there are no girls," Zeegers said. "Out there, you can get a Big Mac when you want one, and now they eat what we give them. I tell them this isn't supposed to be Club Med. This is a juvenile detention facility."

The routine is the same Monday through Friday, starting with a 6 a.m. wake-up call, followed by breakfast. Then from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., they head to classes – the subject area depends on how long they've been in the facility.

During the first 30 days, they take classes in life management skills and personal fitness.

Then they determine what vocational training they want to pursue and begin instruction in that area as well as academic classes.

From 4 to 5 p.m., residents attend groups recommended by their case managers, in areas such as anger management or therapy. Then from 5 to 8 p.m. they eat dinner, visit the medical center and have recreation time.

Before the 10 p.m. lights out call, residents have free time to watch television, read books or write letters.

"We want to try to give them a schedule that is as close to real life as possible," Zeegers said.

Most weekends feature special activities, such as movies, sports tournaments or cookouts, and residents get to sleep in until 8 a.m.

Visitors are permitted on Sundays, but Zeegers said because so many of the residents come from broken homes, many don't have regular visitors.

"It's a sad situation because most of the parents are just happy to have them out of the house," Zeegers said. "We have minimal face-to-face contact with some of the families. We have the ones who are here every weekend to visit, and some who never come at all."

Whatever their home life situation, Zeegers said the message he wants to convey is they all have the opportunity to turn their lives around.

"We tell them if they want to make an honest living, they can walk out of here with a trade and they can do it," Zeegers said.

Learning A Trade

Residents can pick from a wide variety of skill trades in the program, which they study about six hours a day.

During their stay, they complete 840 hours in culinary arts, desktop publishing, horticulture, computer-assisted design, flooring installation, building construction technology, carpentry, electrical, masonry, landscaping or plumbing.

About 70 percent of their class time is spent completing hands-on training in their trade and working on projects.

"We want these kids to learn what it's like to go on a job and work with customers," Zeegers said.

Sebring Police Chief Tom Dettman, who is a member of the APYA advisory board, said teaching the residents a skill gives them a way out of their cycle of crime.

"A lot of these young men come from sad family backgrounds," Dettman said. "They didn't have a leg up when they went in, but when they leave, they have a skill they can be proud of."

Residents work on projects throughout the campus, such as renovating the game room, which incorporated skills from almost every resident at the facility.

Landscaping students mow the lawns throughout the grounds, and any electrical and plumbing problems that occur are looked at as learning opportunities. Culinary arts students produce fresh items for the APYA Country Store, located in Avon Park.

"We have quite a following out there of people who come in for fresh pies and cookies that are made from scratch," Zeegers said. "We want the kids to know they can be more than a crook. They can become a valuable member of their community."

Positive Reinforcement

Residents who don't get into trouble in the facility are even permitted to leave campus with instructors to work on projects in the community.

Bob Bucy, project coordinator for Home Builders Institute, estimates the offenders have completed about 20,000 hours of community service in the past five years.

"They are able to learn what it's like to actually complete a job for someone," Bucy said. "It's good for them to get out there and see how they can make a positive impact in the community."

Zeegers said having projects off campus makes residents work hard to stay out of trouble so they can participate.

He also has other incentives used to reward students who behave. Recently, the 20 most improved students got to attend a professional wrestling match in Sebring.

Even the game room has a specific rule, "No knuckleheads."

"Only the kids who deserve the special privileges get them," Zeegers said. "It keeps them on their toes."

Throughout their stay, residents also work to earn credits, which are APYA's version of money. They can cash in the credits to purchase things at the campus store, which has everything from name-brand soap to sugary cereal.

"Hot Pockets and brownies are probably the favorite," said Windsor, who fills orders weekly for purchases from the store. "We sell a lot of comfort food."

Residents have to pay for rent, utilities and food from the credits as well.

"They learn a lot of responsibility by figuring out how to manage their credits," Windsor said. "They know when they do well in the program, they can earn more credits, and that's a real incentive for them. They also know they don't want to end up in the hole."

Restoring Justice

Zeegers sees a stark contract between the boys he admits into his facility and the ones he releases back into the community.

"Juvenile delinquents are the most selfish people on the planet," Zeegers said about the offenders who come into the program. "They are used to getting whatever they want and if they don't get it, then they take what they want."

They usually have problems with authority as well.

During their nine-month stay, his mission is to change this behavior.

"We try to restore justice to these kids' minds and hearts," Zeegers said. "When they go out in the community, they can see the satisfaction of doing the work and making an honest living doing it."

One of Zeegers' favorite memories is when some of the residents gave bikes they had restored to children at elementary schools during Christmastime.

"They were able to actually take something they had worked on and give it to someone else," Zeegers said. "These are convicted felons who are used to taking from people … I had tears in my eyes because they were so proud when they saw the response on the kids' faces."

Dettman said he individually meets many residents every time he is at the facility and described them as "gentlemanly," a term not commonly associated with juvenile delinquents.

"Every bit of interaction I have with them has always been, 'Yes, sir,' and 'No, sir,'" Dettman said. "They live a very structured life out there, and most of them come from unstructured families where they didn't have that. I think kids need that structure and routine in their lives and they get it out there, and that provides a lot of the success story."

Success

APYA boosts one of the lowest recidivism rates of all the state's juvenile detention facilities.

Zeegers said only about 18 percent of those released from the program get in trouble with the law one year after graduation.

"We know we probably can't help them all," Zeegers said. "But to know we've helped so many, I think is significant."

For the residents who don't have families to support them after their release, APYA even gives them assistance, from clothing to rent money.

"Some kids literally come in here with nothing, so we give them some supplies to get on their feet," Zeegers said.

Most go on to school or the workforce, and 70 percent of the youth are employed, in school or actively seeking jobs one year following their release.

One resident who is about to be released told Zeegers he is proud of what he has accomplished in his computer-assisted design class.

"I've learned a lot here," the resident told him. "It's a great feeling to know I'm going home, but I'm really glad I've learned some good skills."

Joyce Norskov, a landscaping instructor, recently received a call from a student she had five years ago.

"He told me he had started his own landscaping business," Norskov said. "It was so great to know he is out doing good in the community. I was so proud to hear that. That's what it's all about - helping them turn their lives around."

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