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Girls gone mild (continued)


Experts also suggest that girls are getting snagged by stricter enforcement of zero-tolerance-for-violence policies in schools, or because domestic-violence laws in the state have changed, turning what used to be terrible family squabbles into arrestable incidents. Then there’s the fact that other state agencies that could address troubled behavior, including DSS and the Department of Mental Health, are stretched thin. Without the appropriate resources to help troubled or abused kids — like Alicia and Stephanie — when they’re younger, the state often sees them again when they’re old enough to start acting out.

Delinquent girls, almost all of whom have some type of trauma in their backgrounds, especially need this attention. DYS statistics show that a full 75 percent of the agency’s female population had at some point received DSS services.

Once they’re in, boys and girls remain in DYS custody until they are 18 or 21 years old, depending on their offense. They spend some of that time — anywhere from several months to more than a year — in a DYS facility. When they’re not enrolled in a program, they live either with their parents or in a foster home, adhering to stringent probation, complete with curfews, school-attendance policies, and mandatory visits from DYS staffers.

When girls in DYS custody act out, it’s often in the form of low-level offenses, such as shoplifting or trespassing. (In fact, almost 75 percent of DYS girls are classified in the agency’s two lowest offender levels, which include nonviolent "public order" or property disturbances. Only six percent are in the fourth, and highest level, which covers assault with a weapon.) Sherman describes what she calls the DYS "revolving door": girls commit minor offenses, are put on probation, violate their probation, and then are committed to DYS on probation violation. "Girls are driven deeper into the system due to these minor violations," she says.

This is a sore subject with the girls, who launch into a chorus of complaints about probation — how police officers can just show up and arrest you (here, there are several amusing imitations of police officers knocking on doors or coming to schools) and how "they don’t care who you’re with," Stephanie says, looking down. "They’ll even do it in front of your sister."

Combine all these elements and DYS — already familiar with how to deal with boys — must now adjust to serve a growing female population.

"It really requires the department to rethink its approach," acknowledges new commissioner Jane Tewksbury (the first woman to hold the post), who notes that despite DYS’s reputation as a "boys’ agency," girls now make up a small but significant 18 percent of DYS cases.

To that end, this year DYS requested additional money from the state legislature for a Girls’ Initiative — and got about $2.5 million for female-specific services. The agency was able to hire Prescott as the first female-services director and raise salaries for counselors who work in girls’ residential programs. Plus, it was able to sign a $750,000 contract with Eliot Community Human Services (which runs other residential homes for adolescents and adults throughout the state), which will operate the girls’ transitional-living facility for DYS.

NEVER ALONE

On their second morning in the house, Alicia, Fifi, Lilly, and Stephanie — four girls often branded with a "bad-girl" label — sit around the dining-room table knitting blankets (a skill they picked up in other DYS programs). It’s easy to forget, when they’re talking about their favorite music (Lil’ Kim, Mike Jones, Tupac) or TV shows (soaps, Judge Joe Brown, Oprah), that they have experienced things that are foreign to most girls their age.

Then they’ll start swapping stories about their histories — "I hopped in a stolen car ... and got arrested in a graveyard," says Stephanie. Lilly, three months pregnant, is reminded to take her prenatal vitamin — a quick jolt back to reality.

The girls seem eager to create new realities. Alicia wants to get her GED, study psychology, and work for DYS. Lilly, who raised her little brother, wants to work in day care. Fifi knows that she "can’t work in a fast-food place," and instead is aiming to become either a pediatrician or a kindergarten teacher. And Stephanie brightens up when she talks about eventually owning her own auto shop (she learned how to fix cars in high school).

They get excited when they start to list what they want to do when they’re on their own — get their driver’s licenses, go to the nail salon, pick up job applications at nearby stores, and get cable. They thrill Marien when they announce that they love the staffers. "They don’t treat us like little babies," Fifi explains. "They treat us like adults."

In the eyes of the law, they will be adults in a matter of months. But psychologically, it’s a different story. "Because they’ve had deprivation, even at 18 they’re not going to be as self-sufficient and independent as other 18-year-olds might be," Sherman says. "They still need support to develop into healthy adults." But for the new home, Sherman has high hopes. "One of the keys to successful programs for girls is extended transition time and follow-up. The longer the follow-up, the better the outcome in the end. It’s a whole different ball game when you get home."

"If I was on my own, I’d get nervous or do things I didn’t want to," Lilly admits, rubbing her stomach. She’s spent her formative years in DYS care and feels safer knowing that her transition will be monitored, and eased, by counselors. "It’s good that they’re still going to be there."

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Issue Date: August 5-12, 2005
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