Public Safety

Skype Helps Youth See Beyond Detention

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A 17-year-old detained at East Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility, once known to probation officers as a “fighter,” is on his best behavior as he waits to connect on Skype with his mother. When her picture pops up, a big smile spreads across his face and he greets her.

“I feel stressed, but as soon as I talk to my mom, I feel more connected,” said Fabian R. “It makes me feel good and I have things to hope for when I get out.”

Fabian is one of six to 10 youth now using Skype to chat with their families as part of an innovative new pilot program at the County Probation Department’s East Mesa facility, located in a remote part of Otay Mesa.

Probation officials like Acting Division Chief Barry Calabrese said they’ve noticed major improvements in many of these youths’ attitudes and behavior since starting the Skype family visitation program.

“I know because I read every report, and these youth were some of our major troublemakers in here. But not anymore,” Calabrese said.

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That has certainly been true with Fabian, said Senior Probation Officer Claudia Legorreta. Fabian hasn’t been involved in any fighting since he started the program eight months ago.

Fabian acknowledges that previously, if he saw trouble ahead, he would just walk right into it. He shows how tightly wound he was with stress by covering his tight fist with his other hand. That stress eased up substantially after he began the Skype visits, however. Now, when he sees trouble ahead, he looks for a way around it, Fabian said. The visits help him see beyond the institution.

“Before, I didn’t care because I was just focused on being in here. Now, I focus on school, future and family,” said Fabian, who is scheduled for release next month.

San Diego County Probation Chief Mack Jenkins said the program fits well with the department’s family-centered approach to addressing juveniles’ personal and behavioral issues. Probation officers work with both juveniles and their families to help the youth through struggles with their homes lives and beyond.  Having support from their families can greatly help the young people during their time in custody,  Jenkins said.  

“Some kids don’t get visited,” Jenkins said. “With Skype, we were able to find a technological solution to a real barrier.”

Transportation is a hardship for many of the parents, and there is no public transit that stops in front of East Mesa like some other detention centers, said Legorreta.

In Fabian’s case, his mother lives in Mexico. He hadn’t seen her in three years until he started talking with her via Skype. They would talk by phone, but it wasn’t the same kind of connection when they couldn’t see each other’s faces, he says. She was sure he wasn’t telling her everything about how things were going for him. He says he always told her he was fine even if he’d gotten into a fight, or was feeling stressed.

Now, he looks for positive things to report to her every week, like news of a good grade in school or having passed a test.

The Skype family visits came about at the suggestion of a former division chief who noticed that some of the kids never received visits during their entire stay. Facility staff changed visitation hours, but that didn’t help.

So staff sent a survey to the facility’s then current population of about 200 juveniles to see if Skype could be a good solution. The survey asked about the technological capabilities of their households, and responses were good.

County information technology experts worked with Wi-Fi providers for a cost-effective solution to get the signal to the remote area, through concrete walls, without compromising any network security. After that, jail staff purchased two tablets to use on their end and worked with the families to either help them install the free software at home, or suggest they go to a public library that offered public computers.

Only parents, guardians or appropriate adult family members are permitted to talk with the juveniles. Legoretta says juveniles are monitored visually. A Probation officer can see if someone else gets on the call with the juvenile, but does not listen in on the call. Juveniles are allowed to call their family during visiting hours and are given 20-minute slots several times a week.

“If this program can get a kid to start setting goals for himself, then that’s a success,” said Legorreta. “To see one kid like Fabian change, well, it makes my job all worth it.”

 

 

 

Yvette Urrea Moe is a communications specialist with the County of San Diego Communications Office. Contact