monday, January 14, 1980
daily nebraskan
PCQ3 9
Boys Town . . .
,si '
Continued from page 2
Dwite Pedersen, the former dean of men
at Boys Town, said: 'They're not taking a
better boy or a worse boy out there, they
just aren't taking enough,"
Pedersen, who worked at Boys Town
for 12M was "phased out" of his position
when program changes were made. He had
worked as a counselor and orientation
center director.
Before the family-teacher model, boys
lived in dormitories and cottages with
single, men in the place of family-teachers.
"I never had any kids who didn't like
the dormitories. It was always a homey
type of situation," he said.
Pedersen said that a problem with
family-teachers is the high turn-over rate.
"The family-teacher turn-over rate is
very heavy. Married couples come in there
and find out they have no privacy with
nine or 10 boys. After a while they leave.
The boys think they have no security.
They probably come from a broken home '
and now their house parents are leaving
them."
! . . we u)ere all in agreement
that we haven't heard one good
thing about Boys Town.
But Boys Town administrators disagree.
Phillips said the national average of
turn-over for child care workers is under
six months. "Our family-teachers 'stay
about two years on the average."
Paul Laughlin, 17, a former Boys Town
resident, said he went through five sets' of
family-teachers in 2Vz years.
On any given day, however, Boys Town
administrators say the Boys Town total
population is about 1,000 students. On
Nov. 9, 1979, there were 384 Omaha cam
pus youths, 12 of whom are girls living, in
dormitories in downtown Omaha, some 15
miles from Boys Town, Phillips said. He in
eluded 12 admittance ; process youths
which are those under consideration of
admittance, 271 students in off-campus
homes and 330 youths with a non-residential
status. "
The non-residential students are those
from surrounding public schools who are
taking classes at the Vocational Career
Center-about as many as there are actual
residents at Boys Town.
Archbishop Sheehan said the number of
boys living on campus has decreased be
cause Boys Town has gone to a different
style of care.
'It is a more home-like surrounding
than the institutionalized format," he said.
"Instead of having 25 boys to take care of,
family-teachers have seven or eight boys."
Opening for couple
Job Service of Nebraska lists in its
Dictionary of Occupational Titles, from
time to time, an opening at Boys Town for
a "couple to counsel and teach skills to
youth in a family style living program."
Home, food and utilities are provided,
according to the job listing, at a starting
salary of $16,000 a year. A high school
diploma is required, no experience neces
sary and the minimum age is 21.
David Coughlin, director of community
services at Boys Town, said family -teachers
are trained about one year before taking
charge of a household.
Boys Town critics comment on other
problems they have with Boys Town's
current administration.. Former dean of
men Pedersen said about 200 employees
were gradually phased out and replaced by
the new administration.
Former employee Wolff said many
former employees-fired, phased out or re-tired-agree
on most of their grievances.
"About every two months the old staff
members get together for dinner. At the
last one there were about 30 to 35 of us
and we were all in agreement that we
haven't heard one good thing about Boys
Town," he said.
A current teacher at Boys Town said
there is much dissatisfaction at Boys Town
among the teaching staff. " .
"Before. Father Hupp took over, the
employees stuck together. There was a lot
of loyalty to Boys Town. But since the
new administration has taken over, there
was a need for the teachers to organize.
There never was a need for us to do so be
fore." : 1 ';rt- ' : " T'" ,7 .
The new administration states in an
article on what it labels the Boys Town
revolution: "By far the most serious objec
tion to our changes came from people who
telt threatened with the loss ot their jobs.
In streamlining the organization-closing
the dining hall and central transportation
system and dispensing with services that
had lost their purpose-some people did
lose their jobs."
Continued on Page 16
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