CUYAHOGA HILLS

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When Roman was small, he was dropped in boiling water by his father. He had a deep-seated hate for both his parents and it was manifested in deeds like breaking car antennas, slashing tires and other types of vandalism.

He was caught destroying the inside of a lawyer's house. The police noted that he failed to take anything of value.

"A kid like Roman obviously has an emotional problem. He wasn't in crime for the money. We worked with Roman quite a bit and he discovered that he had transferred the hate he harbored for his father to his mother. Finally, he was able to see that his mother had nothing to do with his father's actions. He is living with her now and they're making it," explained Halas.

"We are better suited to work with kids like this than the hardened criminal types," added Rushin.

The boys of Cuyahoga Hills tend to speak in prison terms. What goes on in the community is referred to as "the outs," and what takes place within the school is "the ins." Rumors about other institutions and the fate of recently released inmates abound.

"I tell the kids when they first come here that they're in jail. Maybe this is a nice jail, nonetheless, they are still locked up and their freedom is limited," said Jim Mell.

The institution has a "hands off" policy concerning the youth leaders' relationships with the boys.

"No youth leader is to hit a kid unless his well being or another kid's is in danger," said Rushin.

This policy does not always exist in reality.

"Some kids are hit now. They've been hit in the past, and some kids deserve to be hit," said chaplain Don Bauter.

"The youth leaders aren't really brutal or anything, but they will slap you around a couple of times if you don't listen to them after a few warnings, but that's about all," added inmate Cecil. A youth leader confirmed this statement. There is no evidence of extreme abuse on the part of the guards, however.

In each dorm is a 10-foot-by-12-foot room with a sink and toilet bolted into the cement block walls. A boy is placed in this area which is known as an isolation block for anywhere from 1 to 72 hours.

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He is left there to sit on the tile floor. The inmate is clothed to a certain extent and he receives the same meals as the rest of the members of his dorm. At night, he is given a mattress and a blanket.

"The isolation block is used as a cooling-off place. For example, a kid who has just been in a fight, attacked a staff member or tried to run away would be placed in there. It would take a very serious offense for a kid to be in for more than 24 hours," explained Mell.

On the day I visited the institution, only one boy was in isolation, and he had to spend 12 hours there for starting a fight. I spoke with one inmate who stayed 72 hours inside the block because he had run away. He said that he was not hurt in any way. He was just left alone.

Recently, the entire institution's offcampus field trips have been suspended for a month because seven boys had run away during these excursions within a period of three weeks.

Other institutional problems such as homosexual attacks and theft by staff members from inmates are not found at Cuyahoga Hills to a large degree.

"Now and then a staff member will keep a gift that comes in for a kid, but that's very rare since the office keeps track of what parents send," said Rich, a 17-year-old inmate.

"As for homosexuals, there are probably four or five of them here and they keep to themselves," added another' boy.

A common complaint voiced by some social workers is that they are not able to speak with the child's parents during his entire period of incarceration. The boys are from various places across the entire state and the school's social worker is supposed to have contact only with the social worker in the inmate's home town.

"This is a problem that makes our job harder," said Mell. "I certainly don't like the situation, and anyone who tries to rationalize this problem away just isn't telling the truth. Regional institutions would be the ideal, but the taxpayers feel that it isn't worth the expense."

Rich Halas is the only staff psychologist. A psychiatrist is at the school four hours every Saturday.

"People don't want to spend a lot of money on juvenile institutions. Society puts kids in places like Cuyahoga Hills for three reasons.

"First, a kid committed a crime and now he has to do his time.

"Second, it's good to have the kid off the streets for the protection of society.

"And only third is the idea of rehabilitation. It doesn't take that much money to fulfill the first two requirements. All that is required is a prison. But to have a solid rehabilitation program, a large budget is needed and right now society doesn't seem ready to pay for it," said Mell.

Terry Pluto is a local free-lance writer.