Columnist Ruthe Deskin: Assistance program has matured

Ruthe Deskin

Thursday, Aug. 29, 2002 | 8:21 a.m.

It usually happens to those of us who have reached that pinnacle of life where we are referred to as senior citizens.

We get an urge to clean out old files and pack boxes and toss anything that is of no further use.

Deciding what to keep and what to throw away can consume hours, as memories dim our good intentions.

Recently I ran across newspaper clippings that told the story of one of the county's most successful and progressive departments, and was reminded of how far it had come from its beginnings.

Often it is wise to understand the past in planning for the future.

This is the story of The Clark County Department of Family and Youth Services, formerly known as Clark County Juvenile Court Services.

Before the present facilities were constructed on Bonanza Avenue and Pecos Road, troubled youths and dysfunctional families were treated at several locations. Funding was always a problem.

It was in 1961 that Chief Probation Officer Warren Bohlmann called the Sun to ask for help in obtaining furnishings for the juvenile detention center on Shadow Lane.

"My staff consists of the best scroungers in the county," he told us, "but we need so much more."

Another reporter and I paid a visit to the facility. It was an overcrowded concrete building surrounded by an 8-foot-tall wire fence.

The interior decor could be described as "Early Throwaway." Almost everything in the building was donated and everything was shabby.

Bedspreads were a motley array of colors and designs. The sleeping quarters consisted of small rooms with six or seven cots, stacked one atop the other.

Paint was peeling from the walls and the battered old water heater barely heated enough water for routine needs, so the kids generally bathed in cold water.

The only recreation consisted of one ancient TV that worked only half the time. There were a few books.

Most youth incarcerated at the detention building were there for curfew violations, petty crimes and incorrigible behavior.

Today the kids who are detained might be guilty of far more serious offenses -- a sign of our modern society.

For the youngsters who were wards of the court -- abandoned, neglected or abused -- the conditions were almost as bad. These children were housed in a dilapidated dwelling on Eighth or Ninth Street, as I recall.

There, too, lack of space and shabby furnishings wrought hardship; and not only for the children, but for the dedicated staffers who did everything they could to make life a bit happier for these unfortunate kids, even reaching into their own pockets to help.

In time conditions improved.

Judge David Zenoff, who acted as juvenile court judge in those days, was the guiding light behind improvement and reform to the system.

Gov. Mike O'Callaghan, then chief probation officer and later director of court services, had a lot to do with bringing more enlightened thinking to the field of juvenile detention and care.

From the very beginning there were unsung heroes and heroines -- staff members who were grossly underpaid and overworked.

It was a long, arduous road.

Today, Clark County's Department of Youth and Family Services is a national model for treatment of children and strengthening family units.