Juveniles In Wilderness Program Stay In Woods Outfitted In Survival Gear, 16 Teenagers Continue To Live In Tents In Montana

Regardless of the bitter cold weather, 16 delinquent teenagers in the state wilderness program will continue to live in tents in the woods near Helena, corrections officials say.

The official low temperature at Helena Tuesday was 34 degrees below zero.

“They’re warm, they’re safe, they’re doing fine,” said Gordon Birch, director of Montana Youth Alternatives, the state program run by Aspen Youth Alternatives, based in Loa, Utah.

Birch said the program is designed to work year-round and is moving through its first winter with great success. No kids have been seriously injured in the snow and cold, and only a two cases of “extremely minor” frostbite have occurred, he said.

“It’s challenging, but the program is extremely safe,” he said.

State Corrections Director Rick Day said he is confident the youngsters are safe.

“They seem to have taken the necessary precautions,” Day said.

When temperatures hit dangerously low levels the teenagers spend most of their time in large, heated dome tents called yurts, which have wooden floors and wood-burning stoves.

“They’re going to stay inside the yurts until the weather breaks,” Day added.

Birch said the program has bought electric generators to provide extra light. When warmer temperatures come, the youngsters work outside during the day and build snow caves to sleep in.

All have been outfitted with the best cold-weather clothing and gear, he said.

He said the “sleep system” is rated to 40 degrees below zero, and a Gore-Tex insert adds 15 degrees to the protection. The youngsters’ boots are rated to minus-80 degrees, he said, and layered clothing includes wool pants and polypropolene underwear.

“It’s expensive, but it’s worth it,” Birch said.

Birch said snow - which is chest high in some areas where the youngsters camp - can insulate them against the cold.

“If you were sitting up on a big, bald mountain in the cold, that’s when it’s dangerous,” he said.

The state contracted with Aspen Youth Alternatives last spring for $850,000 a year to begin a wilderness therapy program for juvenile delinquents ages 12 to 19. It replaced the state’s Mountain View School for Girls in the Helena Valley.

The 16 teens in the woods now are in two groups of eight, ages 14 to 18, with two or three girls in a group, Birch said.

Wilderness treatment, during which the youngsters spend two months living and working in the woods, is just one part of the program. The children are set up in the woods after one month of orientation at Mountain View.

The wilderness experience is followed by two months of residential treatment, also at Mountain View.

Montana Youth Alternatives takes in 60 charges at a time, with about two dozen serving their time in the wilderness. State officials reasoned they could take more children into the program than were at Mountain View and have a more dramatic impact on their behavior.

Birch said five groups of eight youngsters have been through the wilderness part of the program. One group has completed the entire seven-month sentence, which includes two months of state-funded treatment when the children return home.

He said there is more for the youngsters to do in the summer months because Montana Youth Alternatives has an agreement with the U.S. Forest Service to do such work as trail maintenance.