Juvenile offenders to have camp option

Camp Integrity will cost the county about $120,000 a year.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Former YMCA program coordinator James Wells is making plans to come back to the city to provide a sentencing option for juvenile offenders called Camp Integrity.
Wells, who was program coordinator for 14 years ending in 1998, has developed the program and operated it in Medina County for about a year. Trumbull County commissioners are expected to approve a resolution today authorizing the Trumbull County Juvenile Court to sign a contract to begin the program.
The camp will begin operations on the second floor of the downtown YMCA as early as this July, said Diane Pusztai, juvenile court administrator. The court offers a variety of programs for youths, but none of them is as intensive as this one, she said.
Camp Integrity
Camp Integrity is a five-day, six-hour, eight-week program that will serve about 60 youths per year. It will serve 14 youths at a time. The program will cost $120,000 per year, the money to come from the Reclaim Ohio grant from the Ohio Department of Youth Services.
Wells developed Camp Integrity because Medina County's juvenile courts needed a place where youths who had gone through court proceedings, and were found to be unruly or delinquent, could be sent for a sentencing option, Wells said.
The program operates from 3 to 9 p.m. -- the highest unstructured hours of the day -- for youths ages 13 to 17. It gives them help breaking their patterns of delinquency by teaching them alternatives and coping skills.
Wells said it emphasizes the importance of school attendance and includes daily help with homework and other academic areas as a primary focus. Participants also work on on-site and off-site beautification projects. Other programming includes violence prevention, substance abuse, life skills and physical conditioning, Wells said.
Other business
In other business, commissioners are expected to approve a memorandum of understanding between the Trumbull County Planning Commission and the Trumbull County Engineer's Office for using a $100,000 state grant to improve Aeropark Drive in the Aeropark Industrial Park in Vienna Township.
Commissioners awarded a contract for $73,743 to Parella Pannunzio Inc. of Youngstown on May 3 to do the work. At Tuesday's work session, Alan Knapp, director of the county Planning Commission, also proposed a change order to the project to provide a reinforcing material in the concrete.
But Commissioner James Tsagaris questioned why the road was already in need of repairs when it had only been built about five to six years ago, and commissioners agreed to table the matter until more information can be obtained.
Knapp said later that the road appears to have been damaged by trucks using it before the concrete had cured properly. He said at least part of the road was privately built and did not involve public money.
runyan@vindy.com