Rebecca Dreesen, director, and Don Johnson, executive director, are heading up the new Southwestern Youth Serivices in Magnolia.
By Lori Ehde
The Magnolia facility for troubled youth has a new name and, in time, will have a new image. That’s what the directors of Southwestern Youth Services are working toward, anyway.
Executive Director Don Johnson and Director Rebecca Dreesen are building a new program to instruct 13- to 19-year-old males who have been court ordered to the facility.
Southwestern Youth Services offers detention for youth who need to be held away from their homes between arrests and court hearings. Most of the services, however, focus on short-term and long-term residential programs.
It does essentially the same things as Pinnacle Programs Inc., which used to occupy the facility, but Johnson and Dreesen say they run the show with a different approach.
"Our philosophy has always been positive peer culture, and I’m a strong believer in that," Johnson said. "But we focus on de-escalating behavior to avoid physical confrontation. I like to place a lot of emphasis on positive reinforcement rather than negative."
He said using physical restraint is often unavoidable due to the criminal nature of the youth they work with, but he said the fact it’s used as a last resort sets the Southwestern Youth Services apart from its predecessor.
Improving the facility’s tarnished image may be as challenging as rehabilitating the youth themselves.
Pinnacle Programs Inc. opened in the former Magnolia school building in 1995 and at one time housed more than 20 young people.
However, a 1998 sex scandal that sent local employee Sharon Smidstra to seven years in prison cast serious doubt on the program.
Smidstra was found guilty in a July 1999 jury trial of first- and third-degree criminal sexual conduct, five counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and seven counts of furnishing tobacco to a minor.
Families of the children filed lawsuits alleging negligence, and judges began sentencing juveniles to other facilities.
To make matters worse, the state of Nebraska last year mandated its judicial system sentence youth only to in-state facilities. The majority of Magnolia’s young residents were from Omaha.
Last summer, Maurice Crowley sold the property to PDI Realty Corporation, a group of investors primarily from South Dakota.
Johnson and Dreesen have been working to keep the doors open.
"I’m from Ellsworth, and people keep asking me ‘are you closing your doors?’ and I tell them, ‘No, the sign is just down, we’re not closing our doors,’" Dreesen said.
The facility officially became Southwestern Youth Services on Jan. 1, and a sign will soon be placed on the front lawn.
At one point, enrollment dropped to three, but there are currently six boys in the program, with several more referrals and commitments underway.
If anyone can rebuild the program, Johnson and Dreesen feel they can.
Dreesen started at the Magnolia facility shortly after the school was transformed into a correctional program. She’s worked nearly every position on the roster, including cook, peer leader, administrative support and management.
Johnson comes to Magnolia after 26 years at the South Dakota Training School in Plankinton. He resigned after 15 years as manager two years before the state closed it down in 2001 following the controversial death of a juvenile girl there.
He lives in Adrian and returns on weekends to Plankinton, where his wife still lives.
Both Johnson and Dreesen have their sights set firmly on the future, and spend little time looking back.
Right now that means marketing the program. They’re visiting with judges and personally distributing literature. "I think it’s critical that people have a chance to meet you eye-to-eye," Johnson said.
Dreesen said, "We tell everyone they’re welcome to tour the facility and meet the staff."