Virginia Beach group home getting a second chance

VIRGINIA BEACH

A group home for troubled youths is getting a second chance.

City Council members are expected to vote soon on a new lease for the Tidewater Regional Group Home Commission. The commission operates a transitional living program, mainly for 17- to 20-year-old males released from the state's juvenile correctional centers.

Last year, four of the home's residents used a gun to rob two neighborhood youths. The incident raised community anxieties about security around the Lynnhaven Parkway home and led to a directive from council members that it relocate by mid-February.

With an enhanced security and communications plan in place and the support of city and community leaders, the home is now expected to remain at its current address for at least another year, said Linda Filippi, the group home commission's executive director.

"This is very re-enforcing of our work and our mission," she said. "The city really wanted to support having the program because I think they understand the value of it."

Council member Harry Diezel urged his colleagues last month to reconsider the lease. The city has leased the property for a $1 a month. "Other than that one nasty incident, they've had a pretty good track record," he said. After the robbery, three of the residents were charged and all four were dismissed from the program.

The group home commission coordinates many juvenile justice programs and operates the transitional living program and four other group homes in the region. Residents at the Lynnhaven Parkway home are assigned as a condition of their parole. Staff and counselors work with them on completing their education, finding a job and learning life skills, such as money management.

The one-year lease, which city officials will review again next year, includes protocols to ensure that city leaders, the Police Department and the community are well-informed about the home's residents and any problems that occur, Filippi said.

The program is also required to more stringently screen juveniles involved with felony crimes. The home already does not accept those convicted of murder, manslaughter, sexual offenses or arson.

Police will be expected to update program staff on crime, such as gang activity, and officials operating the home must notify police if residents are missing. They must also update the city manager's office if residents commit crimes that "have the potential for media coverage" and alert city leaders of "any major disputes" between the group home and neighbors.

Police officers also plan to visit the home regularly to meet with clients, Filippi said. "They're just trying to build a relationship with kids in the program."

The improvements join others that were put into place last year, including a requirement that new residents wear tracking devices for a minimum of 30 days.

Residents in the Glenwood community were among those who expressed worries about the program. But with the changes, residents are satisfied that the home can be a good neighbor, said Dan Baxter, board member and past president of the Glenwood Community Association.

"We have to be realistic in our need for a facility like this," he said. "Communication is a key to its success, and a past failure to communicate is what caused the problems."

Susan E. White, (757) 222-5114, susan.white@pilotonline.com