The staff at Tinkham decided that she was not a serious case and that she would do better at a temporary home while awaiting her trial. She hates lock up and never wants to go back. I reinforce that she won t have to go back there if she doesn t commit another crime. Just when the staff relations with the resident improves, they leave, going back to their legal guardians, a new long-term group home, or back into foster care. They may have to start back over and rebuild their trust with someone else, or go back to the families that caused the problem in the first place.
Many former residents end right back at the shelter.
Glen Roy Buchannon, a staffer at the Amherst Shelter states, Many of the residents ask if they can stay permanently. They do not want to go back with their family, and many will try to get back into the shelter. The Amherst Shelter for Adolescents does its best to help the residents, but with time constraints and little cooperation from family, it can be difficult. As a result of the closings of several mills, and the failure of Western Massachusetts to provide adequate employment opportunities, the number of low-income families has increased dramatically. But the abuse is happening at younger and younger ages, and people are still having babies, continuing the cycle too rapidly for caseworkers and specialists to keep up.