After escapes, calls for tighter security at homes for troubled youth

The emergency alert popped up shortly after 1 p.m.

The youth "was last seen approximately forty five minutes ago in the wooded area east of the campus," the text read. "The subject likes to frequent the creek headed toward the Fairview Road area."

The teenager in question had escaped from Devereux's Brandywine campus, a behavioral treatment facility for youth. That was on June 1. A few months earlier, a Devereux runaway, who police said had been arrested twice for burglary, allegedly attacked and robbed an elderly woman and left her tied up in a locked closet of her own house; she was found after four days.

No community alert was issued when that youth went missing, and the one that went out June 1, in the wake of that incident, was the result of lobbying by Jason Piccola and his neighbors in Wallace Township, Chester County, where the Devereux facility is located. The alerts from local police are targeted to those who requested the text messages.

Under a bill introduced last week by state Sen. Andy Dinniman (D., Chester), such alerts would become standard procedure statewide when someone goes missing from a "nonsecure" juvenile facility. In addition, any such treatment center would have to work with law enforcement and municipal officials to develop written security plans in order to receive licenses from the state.

Devereux and similar facilities are not to be confused with youth detention centers for children who have committed crimes. The bill raises serious questions, said Wayne Bear, chief executive officer of the National Partnership of Juvenile Services. He said he would be concerned about the potential for compromising confidentiality, encouraging vigilante activity, and misidentification of other youths who happened to wander into a neighborhood.

The Dinniman bill, in part, might be the result of changing demographics. The population of Wallace Township grew 2.5 times from 1960 to 2010. In the Philadelphia region and elsewhere, development booms have placed houses in the vicinity of some treatment campuses that once were isolated, said officials at the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. That can lead to issues.

Most times when children run away from such facilities, industry experts say, they just want to go back home. But the exceptions make an impression. In 2011, a 16-year-old who escaped from Devereux shot and critically wounded a West Philadelphia man. A jury awarded $11 million to the man in March. Earlier that month, police arrested the teen in the attack on the East Brandywine Township woman. West Brandywine Township police also started their community notifications in March.

The department has fielded nine calls this year of missing Devereux residents. The State Police have responded to seven calls this year, 11 last year, and 24 in 2015.

"You have a sense you're insulated. But really, you're not," said Piccola, who lives in a cul-de-sac three-quarters of a mile and a cluster of trees away from Devereux's Brandywine campus. He called the frequency of alerts "a little unsettling."

Piccola, his neighbors, and township officials petitioned State Sen. John Rafferty Jr. (R., Montgomery) and police officials to send out the alerts.

Before the messages, Piccola said, he relied on news reports or conversations with neighbors to find out about runaways.

Rattled residents are seeking answers from Devereux and public officials as to what can be done to stop children from leaving the grounds.

Leah S. Yaw, senior vice president of Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health, said security measures at the Brandywine campus include alarm systems on doors, motion detectors, and extra staff. She declined to comment on the bill until her office meets with Dinniman.

"We're grateful he continues to be a champion for behavioral health concerns, and that he understands the importance of providing the highest quality, most compassionate care to children who have been through terrible trauma, while also being a good and trusted partner to local communities," Yaw said in a statement.

At Devereux, 5 percent of children have had contact with the court system, mostly for minor offenses, such as shoplifting or a school fight, Yaw said. Devereux doesn't accept children convicted of felony offenses, she said.

Rafferty, who co-sponsored the Dinniman bill, said that he and his fellow senators will continue to talk to treatment facility, law enforcement, and Department of Human Services staff to seek solutions "for the safety and welfare of everyone concerned."

Bernadette Bianchi, executive director of the Pennsylvania Council of Children, Youth and Family Services, said she hoped the proposed legislation would apply exclusively to youth convicted of crimes.

She said the whole security issue "merits a discussion in a much broader context, including one that openly involves youth."

Bear, the juvenile justice advocate, agreed and urged lawmakers to exercise caution. He said that although he understood the gravity of the instances in question, "legislation along these lines needs to have some careful conversation and consideration."