PIERCETON – Pierceton Woods Academy reevaluated its protocols after a near-fatal incident with a juvenile runaway last year and has other program changes planned, town and county officials heard Tuesday. County Commissioner Bob Conley, Pierceton Police Chief Tim Sammons and Pierceton town council members and others attended a tour of the grounds. Their guide was Mark Terrell, CEO of Lifeline Youth and Family Services Inc., which has operated the facility since it opened in 2008. Conley, who said he arranged the tour to help clear up misinformation surrounding the facility, noted early in the meeting he’s had a lot of calls from county residents since 17-year-old Dakota Kimbler escaped from the facility Dec. 8 and tried to carjack an employee at nearby Paragon Medical. Kimbler, who shot the driver in the chest, is facing attempted murder charges in Whitley County. After receiving complaints in person at meetings earlier this year, commissioners sent a letter to state representatives in February urging them to take a closer look at the facility. Commissioners claimed in the letter that Pierceton woods is not equipped to handle juveniles and requested the facility be evaluated and licensed. The facility is in fact licensed as a 40-bed child care institution and as a secure detention facility, as well as receiving national accreditation, the group heard Tuesday. It is licensed through the state Department of Child Services and Department of Corrections, which are also sources of funding in addition to other state, county and private money. “The amount of oversight we get is incredible,” Terrell remarked, citing audits as well as fire and medical inspections. They also turn down referrals of kids with certain behavioral problems, such as firestarters, violent offenders and those who are strongly mentally ill, he said. “We only want to take kids we feel comfortable working with,” he told the group, also noting that each of the boys aged 8 to 21 admitted to the program is evaluated by staff. “I’ll brag, we’re really good at it – but not 100 percent. That’s impossible.” He added that the number of detractors is small compared to the letters of praise Pierceton Woods receives. Still, they are considering having law enforcement present; it’s mostly an issue of their licensing, he explained, which also prevents them from fencing off the grounds or detaining boys who want to leave unless they pose a danger. About 48 boys at a time live at Pierceton Woods, most in dorm-style housing and a few in a more secure wing on the 60-acre grounds. The group saw both types of housing, from the detention rooms furnished with bare metal bunks to the sparse dorms holding a few personal effects – an electric guitar leaning against the wall, baseball caps hanging on the bedpost and hand-drawn pictures of a cross taped up. Terrell also walked them through the indoor gym with rope climbing wall, the classrooms and cafeteria, and pointed out the clearing in the woods meant for an old-fashioned white chapel. “The goal is to have kids get married here someday,” he said. “We are faith... it’s really what we’re about, we don’t hide it.” The boys’ length of stay depends on which of the five programs they’re in, from three days in the detention facility to several months in behavioral modification. In that time they try to educate the boys and prepare them for living on their own, Terrell said. They can earn high school credits in a number of subjects, and build their resumes through working with contractors or in a wood shop being built on the grounds. In addition, staff work with boys in about 1,500 homes in order to keep them out of the court system, which Terrell said saves the state $32 to $50 million a year. Taking boys who used to be sent to Fort Wayne or other places out of the county also saves money. Working closely with families is something they want to expand, with the goal of reunifying a boy and his family. Terrell also remarked that many times it’s not the kid who’s the issue. “The court system is not a good place for juveniles. There’s nothing redeeming in the Boys and Girls schools,” he said, referring to state-run juvenile detention centers. “When you compare those places with what we’re doing, you would fall in love with it.”
