Elgin works to solve youth home problems

Elgin city officials are cautiously optimistic that the number of calls placed to the police by a network of troubled youth homes will decrease.

Elgin Police Chief Jeff Swoboda told city council members Wednesday night that police received 791 calls for service from Jan. 1 through Aug. 31 - representing 2 percent of calls received by the department.

However, Swoboda said, not all calls require a police visit. For example, if one of the residents is gone without permission for more than 20 minutes, the staff must call police and report a "runaway."

"It's not uncommon to have the same person generate multiple runaway calls in a single day," Swoboda said.

The 37 residents at the Larkin Center's five youth homes within city limits are 9 to 18 years old and are wards of the state under the umbrella of the Department of Children and Family Services.

Swoboda noted that officials at the center initially are placing children farther away from downtown, where the train station and bus depot can be enticing for potential runaways. As their behavior improves they are moved closer to the center of town.

Swoboda said he is "cautiously optimistic" the changes will work, noting police received on average one call a day through the first five days of September. Three of those were for the same child. He said summer is the most opportune time for Larkin residents to run away.

He also noted that most crimes committed by clients are within the youth homes, such as battery to staff members and stealing from other residents.

Dennis Graf, Larkin Center's executive director, said center officials have tried to match new clients with the programs that serve them best. He noted center officials work closely with police.

"So far it seems to have a dramatic effect and our runs are down," Graf said, noting most of the calls are the result of just several clients. "Troubled kids are with us because they have problems. That doesn't necessarily mean they act out in the community. The rest of the kids are doing well in the program and are progressing."

Last year, Councilmen Robert Gilliam and John Prigge were charged with working with Larkin officials.

"The numbers are down. They've made some dramatic changes," Gilliam said.

Still, the numbers for 2010 show the police are on pace to receive nearly 1,200 calls.

In 2007, police responded to 888 calls in the areas of the nine homes, which is nearly 21/2 a day.

In 2008, the number of calls topped 1,000, as police were called to respond to complaints for incidents ranging from runaways to fights to kids just generally misbehaving.

Councilman John Prigge, who has been critical of the Larkin Center, noted more than 1,100 calls were logged in 2009.

"I want to be optimistic, but it's a lot of calls. It's a lot of calls," he said of the new numbers outlined by Swoboda. "The neighborhoods are still infected with this."

Chuck Keysor, president of the Near West Neighbors Association who has been critical of the Larkin Homes, said he is not concerned with the number of service calls. He believes spreading residents around is merely spreading the problem around and cited several instances of Larkin residents committing serious crimes outside of the homes, such as armed robbery.

Keysor said one step toward decreasing problems with Larkin Center residents would be to reinstate a policy that allowed center officials to expel residents who continually cause problems.

"As long as you have troubled youths, there's going to be trouble. That's just the bottom line," Keysor said. "The danger in the neighborhood is the issue that needs to be addressed."

Graf said it is the center's vision to erect a centralized youth facility that would put all services under one roof. However, the poor economy "has put the brakes on that type of thinking right now," he said.