DYS program must be saved
I HOPE that the Department of Youth Services restores funding to Homeward Bound, a unique program highly praised by probation officers, judges, and youth advocates ("Lauded DYS program a victim of budget cuts," Page A1, June 28). I have worked with at-risk youth for more than 25 years, as a therapist, residential program director, community organizer, and social worker. Homeward Bound, which gives kids a rich outdoor experience on Cape Cod, is the type of program that is most effective in turning around the lives of troubled youth .
The success of programs such as this is not due to a curriculum or set of activities and policies. Rather, it is due to the many years spent by specific individuals, developing a web of working relationships and creating a cultural environment that promotes positive change.
Marilyn Anderson Chase, assistant secretary of health and human services, the agency that oversees DYS, claims that a plan involving the YMCA and other programs would "retain the best elements" of Homeward Bound. This is not possible. It would be like taking several different families, mixing and matching the members, and saying to the children that this is the same as the family they grew up with.
SHERRY BONDER
Newburyport
I WORKED for the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission as director of the corrections office from 1973 to 1980. Prior to that I was a rehabilitation counselor working with juveniles known to the Cambridge and Framingham juvenile courts. I had many clients who were enrolled at Homeward Bound in Brewster. I often visited them and the staff. This program was cost effective then and even more so now.
It will cost the state millions of dollars to discontinue this program, as many youths will end up incarcerated in juvenile and, later, adult correctional facilities.
It would be foolish and despicable to discontinue this program. I urge the governor and the Legislature to continue it as it has existed , and not in some makeshift program . If the fact that the program will turn lives around is not reason enough, then consider that in the long run it will save Massachusetts taxpayers money.
THOMAS F. ALLMAN
Las Vegas 