Youth facility turns adolescents around

PALMER -- The Mat-Su Youth Facility off Springer Loop in Palmer serves as something of an enigma to many Valley residents. The building looks too clinical for recreation, yet too bright to be a formal prison.

John Combs, a juvenile justice officer and longtime member of the Palmer Lions Club, set the record straight during a Tuesday speech to his fellow Lions.

Combs, a self-described "accidental counselor," took a stint at Western Washington University in both business and psychology before receiving an offer to work at the McLaughlin Youth Facility in Anchorage.

However, it wasn't Combs himself but his brother, Bill Combs, whom the offer was intended for; John's acceptance of the position was simple serendipity. However, this wasn't a bad thing, since, after a month of working as a temporary youth counselor, he found that this kind of work truly struck a chord with him.

"Sometimes, you get dealt a hand like that and it really works out," Combs said. One of his duties at McLaughlin was coaching the facility's baseball team, a requirement that offered some unique challenges. "You've got to make sure that your starting pitcher is eligible and out of trouble," he said.

Nevertheless, Combs' league placed third in the city that year.

The MSYF falls under the umbrella of Alaska's Division of Health and Social Services rather than the Department of Corrections, Combs said, because of its philosophy of promoting change and rehabilitation among its residents rather than administering punishment.

"We try to give juveniles more than one chance to turn their behavior around," he said. "We definitely don't want them to wind up in the adult system."

This is not to say, however, that the MSYF goes easy on its residents. Combs described the 8-by-12-foot cells used to house juveniles as "Spartan", with a bed, desk, and steel chair bolted to the floor being the primary features.

Distinctly lacking are a television, stereo and other means of electronic entertainment, as well as certain freedoms such as outdoor recreation. The facility has an outdoor court with a basketball hoop, but it's surrounded by 16-foot-high fences topped with razor wire.

In addition to exercise, the facility offers juveniles three meals a day (in collaboration with the Palmer Pioneers' Home) and a snack. During the first 48 hours of stay, individual patients undergo "suicide awareness," during which they are checked every five minutes by staff at the center.

"Suicide awareness is a very important aspect of what we do," Combs said. "We want to make sure that we protect the child."

Previous to the construction of the youth facility, a Palmer police officer had to transport the offender to McLaughlin in Anchorage and back. This not only consumed the better part of a day in the life of a Palmer officer, but separated the juvenile from his or her family and loved ones.

Combs said the Mat-Su facility is invaluable in this respect.

"The closer to home we've got them, the more opportunity we have to turn them around," he said.

The emphasis of the MSYF on rehabilitation takes the partial form of counseling and schooling for its residents. All year, classes are held by the one teacher and two teacher aides at the facility, and immediately after the 48-hour suicide awareness period, youths are expected to hit the books.

"A lot of kids there have a high truancy rate," Combs said. "We try to get them back to where they should be."

In addition to traditional schooling, MSYF helps sponsor victim-impact groups that attempt to communicate the victim's side of the crime to offenders, anger-management classes, financial-planning classes, and drug-rehabilitation programs.

The youth facility has held approximately 350 juveniles over the years, Combs said, and currently holds 12 boys. Residents are roughly 80 percent male and 20 percent female. Capacity at the center is 15, though up to 22 have done simultaneous time there -- occasionally residents are doubled up or put in less security-intensive rooms at the Dorothy Saxton center.

Once the MSYF makes a recommendation for future handling of a case, the juvenile is either sent to McLaughlin for more treatment or released back into the community. New processes under consideration at MSYF, however, call for more rehabilitation and a gradual integration back into the world at large.

Combs cites the increasing number of methamphetamine labs in the Valley area as one of the problems ahead for the youth facility.

"I see kids coming in weighing 80 pounds who should be weighing 140," he said.

Combs said that not every underage drug abuser in the Valley winds up at MSYF, but almost every resident being held is using or has used illegal drugs.

Despite, or perhaps due to, MSYF's efforts, Combs said that the area juvenile justice statistics show a 30-percent relapse rate, or the percentage of offenders who return to crime after rehabilitation. Combs said this is less of a negative statistic than a positive one, since he hasn't seen the rate change in more than 25 years.

"Without these services, we'd be looking at maybe a 50-50 or a 60-40 relapse rate," he said.

Fortunately, Combs said, the employees of MSYF are committed to their work.

"Without exception, the people I work with care about making a difference and intervening in the lives of these children," he said.

And the offenses of a few Valley adolescents shouldn't be seen as a reflection of the character of the huge number of good kids in the area, Combs said. "That kid with the spiked blue hair and the skateboard might be our next valedictorian."

Contact Daniel Spoth at daniel.spoth@frontiersman.com.