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Volume 115, Number 109 - Tuesday, February 2, 1999
On neighborhoods, kids and prison-schools
by John Friedlander
You've already read about last Thursday's 2 a.m. Common Council vote to grudgingly recommend the State locate a new youth correctional facility near CVH instead of at or near the present Long Lane School. Those who live near Long Lane may feel they "won" the vote, and those who live near CVH certainly must feel they "lost." But this hard-fought battle left no winners.
For as we debated property values, aquifers, population density and discrimination, two more youths confined to Long Lane found their despair so great and their lives so hopeless that they used their own clothing to seek a permanent exit. While we looked for a way to tell the Governor we don't want Long Lane here, these two children sought a way to tell God they could no longer carry the heavy burden of their lives on their frail young shoulders.
Not long ago I remember reading a news story of another escape from Long Lane, when a couple of kids made a run for it during a snow storm. Faced with the contrast between my warm and cozy Christmas-bedecked home, and these two kids' barefoot, pajama-clad run for freedom through dark and unfriendly woods toward a future no warmer than the ice under their feet, I broke down and wept. That any child should be so desperate is inescapably sad.
So now we have a town apparently forced to accept a high security facility it has fought tooth and nail to reject. We have a state building high tech prison-schools to confine children in crises the State could do much more to prevent. As one of the speakers last Thursday evening asked, "How did we get to this place?" More importantly, where do we go from here?
To be sure, the Long Lane siting issue isn't yet resolved, and it may not be for a while, despite the State's insistence. One speaker at Thursday's session vowed to lie down in front of a bulldozer to prevent construction. Several Middletown Council members publicly claimed their willingness to pay for buses to take Middletown residents to a hearing in Hartford on February 16 to tell the State Legislature how they feel. Senator Tom Gaffey has submitted legislation recommending three regional centers for youth to be located in Hartford, New Haven and Bridgeport, instead of in Middletown.
But no one will question my sanity if I predict that ultimately there will be a new youth prison-school placed in Middletown. Given that, we should concentrate on the following three positives.
First, we must make sure any new facility is constructed with absolute adherence to all available environmental regulations. If there is a legitimate threat to our water supply -- and every large construction project carries risk -- then local inspectors should be scrupulous in their insistence on compliance with the highest possible standards and practices. The city should be ready to take every legal step to ensure that no corners are cut, and all protective or mitigation steps are taken.
Second, If Middletown is so concerned about its negative image as Connecticut's center for prisons and treatment centers, then we must balance this with more prominent positive images. Many speakers Thursday evening railed against what they saw as Wesleyan's complicity in the Long Lane debacle, and ignored Wesleyan's contribution to the quality of life in Middletown. This is ludicrous. Whether you've ever attended Wesleyan or not (I haven't) it should be obvious that colleges enhance a town's image, value and livability. It is a good thing to have a prominent college in Middletown. Wesleyan and Middlesex Community Technical College are two jewels in Middletown's crown. We have others, and we should polish them and add to our collection as never before.
Third, we should put aside our neighborhood vs. neighborhood animosities. Those who thundered that Middletown voters would never forget, and would oust all who voted the "wrong" way, should view things from a broader perspective. Thursday's debate was not about which neighborhood should house a new Long Lane. The choice was between rejecting both location alternatives and ceding the decision back to the State, or keeping as much control for the city as possible, and choosing the least terrible location. Neither of these positions is unreasonable.
Instead of sniping at each other, perhaps we should discuss how best to provide guidance to children in desperate need of it. If, as many suggested, this is but the first of many new treatment centers to be parked on the hill we can't see from the highway, then it is critical for us to participate in the discussion of what kind of facilities these might be. Can we find it in our hearts to look inside those forbidding walls and take an unflinching look at whether or not punitive treatment policies achieve their goals, and how they feel to those they are practiced upon? Can we acknowledge the problems of warehousing, discrimination, and recidivism? Should we not also more seriously consider proactive and preventive measures to help reduce the need for such expensive and reactive crisis intervention?
The Governor acknowledges that Middletown has endured more than its fair share of the weight of these facilities. Perhaps no town is better qualified than Middletown to add experience to the discussion of options in correctional techniques.
Out of all the speakers Thursday night, only one spoke from inside the walls of Long Lane. Only one compassionate caregiver reminded us that there are living, breathing souls inside that much maligned home for youths who have strayed from a positive path. Only one reminded us that there are children's' dreams being born and crushed every day in a place most of us view only as a scandal-plagued eyesore. Let us turn now to shining some warming light on our sons and daughters running barefoot through the snow into the night.
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