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Camp for girls to open home

The plan is part of a three-phase program to integrate the abused and neglected girls back into the community. All that's needed is a state license.

By RAGHURAM VADAREVU
Published May 20, 2005

FLORAL CITY - In the coming weeks, officials at Camp E-Nini-Hassee expect to open a group home for the abused and neglected girls who have finished the camp's rigorous wilderness program and are taking their first steps back into the real world.

The four-bedroom house will be home to approximately six girls and is located on the sprawling 840-acre campus, where girls have come for the past 36 years to live at camp sites and learn life skills, said JoLynn Smith, the camp's director.

The only item that the home needs before it can open is a group home license from the state Department of Children and Families, Smith said. That may come in the next few weeks, allowing camp officials to hold an open house some time in June, she said.

The creation of the group home, which formerly housed the camp's counselors, is just one part in the development of a larger, three-phase program to send the girls through the camp program first, then into the group home, and then finally into independent living, Smith said.

"I know we are going to meet some bumps in the road," Smith said. "(We will) slowly start to reintegrate them back into the community at a safe pace."

The development of the three-phase program is being funded by a $1.4-million federal grant, she said.

Founded in 1969 by drugstore king Jack Eckerd, the camp's purpose was to serve as a haven for abused and neglected girls. It has flourished into what state juvenile justice officials rate as one of the most effective residential programs in the state.

Today, the camp usually has about 70 girls, ranging in ages from 12 to 17.

Some teenage girls arrive at the camp on a judge's order. Others end up there when foster home placements aren't working out. Still others are sent by parents hoping to quell their troubled teen.

Once in the wilderness program, the girls build tents to live in, and engage in outdoor activities, from hiking to canoeing and kayaking. They are responsible for cooking food and cleaning up their campsites, Smith said.

When, for example, a girl rebels, acts out or refuses to perform a task, the group members stop the activity they are doing and attempt with the assistance of a counselor to talk to the girl, Smith said.

Sometimes, these acting-out moments lead to lessons in anger management or counseling for the girl because she may have been sexually abused, she said.

"We put them in small group" of ten, Smith said. "(We try to) emulate a family. We have to work together on our campsites to make it workable."

The average length of stay at the camp is 14 to 16 months, she said.

When a girl leaves, she may not have a supportive home environment to go to. A girl who left the foster system may not want to return to that setting. A girl who came from a troubled family may not be able to return home because her family cannot provide her a stable home.

"They've already been down that road, and that didn't work out for them," she said.

That's where the group home comes in.

The girls can stay at the home while they pursue jobs, earn their high school diploma or enroll in vocational classes, Smith said. All the while, the counselors and other staff at the camp will be there to support them, Smith said.

"We get these kids to where they need to be and try to keep an eye on them and don't throw them to the wolves too soon," Smith said.

In the future, Smith said, camp officials hope to start the third phase and introduce an independent living program. In this program, the camp staff would help girls find work and support them in case they get into trouble or are having a difficult time living on their own.

"We need to get some community help for that," Smith said. "Phase 3 is going to be the most difficult phase."

Raghuram Vadarevu can be reached at rvadarevu@sptimes.com or 352 564-3627.

[Last modified May 20, 2005, 01:06:18]