Children of Night won’t be copied

Jen Lawson

Monday, March 29, 2004 | 9:02 a.m.

After visiting a home for former child prostitutes in the Los Angeles area this week, the board of directors of the Nevada Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth decided against trying to implement a similar program for such girls in Las Vegas.

Kathleen Boutin, executive director of the organization, said the board instead chose to donate $10,000 to Children of the Night.

"Everyone who went on that tour was truly impressed," Boutin said. "We decided to support what Children of the Night is doing and continue to support them as long as their doors are open."

The board realized that keeping the child prostitutes in Las Vegas may be detrimental to their rehabilitation.

Metro Police Sgt. Gil Shannon of the Stop Turning Out Child Prostitutes program, or STOP, which partners police, said the board's decision to support Children of the Night instead of setting up a program in Las Vegas was a good one.

Children of the Night "is a working program and it has a high success rate," he said.

STOP, a program that has been in place for 10 years and involves Metro vice officers, the Clark County Juvenile Probation Department and local judges, emphasizes rehabilitation and gives juveniles the option of going to Children of the Night after their arrest.