Program works with truant students

When Alex Garcia decided to skip a few days of school, he had no idea he'd end up serving meals to the homeless as his punishment.

The 13-year-old Brinley Middle School student said, "I just don't like school." So, in the spirit of his impression of classrooms, he missed school for 15 days. Now back to school, he also has to complete 40 hours of community service appointed by the Clark County juvenile justice system.

Probation truancy specialist Debbie Dow said that Garcia is not alone. "Over 900 citations have passed through this office since September," she said, "And that is just the tip of the iceberg."

Dow feels some schools may under-report their truant (school-skipping) students.

Michael Alston, program manager for Saints in Service at Lutheran Social Services on N. Bruce Street, hopes his organization will help reduce recurrence of truancy. The program, which began officially in June of 2000, has gained popularity for its comprehensive approach to completing community service hours.

The Jessica Williams case put highway trash pickup under scrutiny, but Alston never envisioned his program to be labor-oriented. Instead, he is aiming for education-based hours that focus on helping others in need, gaining self-esteem and learning the importance of finishing school.

Every Saturday morning, families drive up to the Lutheran Social Services Building behind Calvary Lutheran Church. The teens who are dropped off know they will be serving food at Las Vegas Rescue Mission, or making sandwiches at MASH Village, cleaning cages at the Animal Foundation or helping at University of Nevada, Las Vegas' recycling center. Most of the youth involved get about 30 hours -- worked in five hour increments on Saturdays.

But their hours, although guided by a trained mentor, are only part of the picture at Saints in Service. "We get down to the nucleus -- we want to know how we can assist youth in getting past this," said program manager Michael Alston.

"Our intake is for probing," concludes Alston. "We have the youth and the parents do a checklist of 40 developmental assets (created by the Search Institute of Minneapolis, Minn.)," he explains. "We want to see if the parents are on the same page."

During the intake questions, Alston says "we look for red flags, hot areas, certain at-risk behavior questions."

On the teens' first day, Alston gives them his "Building a Better Me" work book, designed to help kids set goals, avoid high-risk activities, and finish school. Another assignment is "a letter to yourself."

"It is equivalent to adults having a one-on-one at the mirror," the program director said.

Brian Dickens, 16, got a citation for truancy after missing 16 days of school at Durango High School. His father David Dickens, said, "school was just too much trouble for him." His 20 hours of community service may be the start of him realizing the value of school, but Alston has but four weekends with Brian to drive that point home.

Heather Holt, one of the younger offenders at just 12-years-old, missed about four months of school while her mother worked. "I've always known school is important, but we (Holt and friends) ditched it once and we had fun the first time so we ditched it again. Then I just got lazy and stayed home," said the O'Callaghan Middle School student. She said it was common for friends to bring over Sega, Sony Playstation and pizza and they'd hang out and sleep.

Lauren Schaaf, program coordinator for Saints in Service, feels the strength of the program is in highlighting the need for families to work together.

"I think its creating closeness for families, bringing families together," said Schaaf. As parents drop off students at the center on Saturdays, Schaaf greets parents to answer questions. "Once they feel comfortable they start to open up," she says of the teens.

"We are working with families, not just individuals," said Schaaf. The program also features a four-stage parent workshop once a month designed to discuss "issues over and above truancy," said Alston.

The program has about 35 kids attending Saturday sessions now, but some months it reaches 50. As the program grows, the need for caring mentors grows as well. Philip Bradford of Americorps has helped recruit mentors throughout the program's first year. His goal -- to get 20 new mentors to accommodate a growing program, and to serve as educators for worksite experiences.

"The program really just ballooned," said Bradford. To honor his one-year volunteer contract, Bradford contacts possible volunteers through the United Way of Southern Nevada Web page, Lutheran Church Bulletins and other nonprofit organizations. The retired chemical dependency counselor, who will be working for Habitat for Humanity in his next assignment, is always looking for volunteers.

Finding volunteers is also a goal of the Executive Director of Lutheran Social Services, Jacqueline Lanning. She feels that as the valley grows, there is a multidimensional need for social service agencies.

"There is a need for more volunteers, more donations, and community support to help with existing programs," said Lanning.

New mentor for Saints in Service Deon Washington, 25, said, "I want to help the younger generation." As Saints in Service continues to draw more teens, the administration is hoping more individuals like Washington will come forward.

The United Way of Southern Nevada helped the program at Lutheran Social Services get off the ground. The organization was already an accredited nonprofit, but the concept of offering a venue (or multiple venues) for community service came to fruition last year.

The United Way also offered the seed money for LifeLine, a vocational training and life skills center on Maryland Parkway and Karen, to start the First Time Fathers program in 1991. "That is how committed United Way is to the youth of this valley," said Lynne Richmond-Morris, executive director of LifeLine.

"The program serves young men who are already in the system learn the role of a male in the household, the community and society," said Richmond-Morris.

The director, who also serves as educator for this group, says the men are under the supervision of juvenile probation and are often court-mandated to take the class.

One of LifeLine's other features, the vocational training program for pregnant teens, boasts a 3 percent repeat pregnancy rate. Richmond-Morris is proud of that statistic as Nevada ranks among the worst in the nation for teen pregnancy.

LifeLine's major client base is adolescent parents. The organization began as a pregnancy counseling service in 1974, but now offers extensive services in education, life skills, career skills and counseling services.

The First Time Father program, introduces to men -- many convicted, released and on probation -- how their gender fits into several roles. "We teach them (the men in the First Time Fathers) about equality, etiquette, anger management, interpersonal relationships ... we use role playing," said Richmond-Morris of her evening class.

"Many of these teens come in on the wrong side (of the law) and they end up graduating high school, getting in the service, getting a job," said Richmond-Morris.

Saints in Service at Lutheran Social Services and First Time Fathers at LifeLine have a common element. These programs offer teens that have made a mistake in their lives a chance to see a better way and make a positive choice. The United Way has supported both programs from their inception, recognizing the need for help in specialized populations.

"In order to bring about change you have to commit time," said Lynne Richmond-Morris. Her organization, which has grown from seeing about 20 clients a month to 27,000 clients in 2000, has committed a great deal of time to young people with needs.

For information about LifeLine, call 871-6585. To learn about Lutheran Social Services, call 639-1730. For those interested in volunteering for or donating to a United Way organization, visit their Web page at www.uwaysn.org or call 734-CARE.