Father Flanagan's Boys Town In The 21st Century

Online, July 20, 2011 (Newswire.com) - "Boys Town has evolved to meet the changing needs of children over its 93 year history," said Doug Czyz in an interview Monday July 18th with Lon Woodbury, host of Parent Choices for Struggling Teens Internet Talk Radio show on LATalkRadio, an Independent Educational Consultant and President of Woodbury Reports Inc..

"In the past we have had up to a thousand kids on our 900 acre campus," pointed out Czyz, "but we felt we were getting too much the feel of an institution and in the 1970s we made major changes to adopt a family model and currently have 550 children living and going to school on our campus."

"It was in 1979 that we started enrolling girls," explained Czyz, "and now about 40% of our student population are girls."

"Father Flanagan started Boys Town 93 years ago to help boys who were homeless or had no parents to take care of them," said Czyz, "during an era when boys without families were often jailed and/or punished.

"Father Flanagan was probably the first person to assert that 'There is no such thing as a bad boy," said Czyz, "and as more children suffered from drugs, bouts with the law and mental health issues, Boys Town modified its mission to also give homes for those children in addition to the traditional homeless and orphan children Boys Town has always worked with."

"Part of that change was to develop an intensive living program for children with serious psychiatric problems," explained Czyz, "enrolling those who looked like they could heal enough to transition to the regular family home living situation on the main campus."

"About 80% of those enrolled in the intensive living program eventually transition to the main campus," Czyz stated, " giving them a chance to live normal lives instead of the alternative of long term institutionalization."

"Parents who are interested in Boys Town for their children can apply on their own without going through any agency" Czyz concluded, "and I'll help them determine if Boys Town is a good fit for their child and if so help the parents go through the application process."

Czyz was a guest of Lon Woodbury's on his Internet Talk Radio show "Parent Choices for Struggling Teens" on LATalkRadio Monday July 18th. To listen to the full discussion visit www.latalkradio.com/Lon.php.

Parent Choices for Struggling Teens is an internet talk radio show hosted by Lon Woodbury on www.LATalkRadio.com every Monday noon PST. Each show has a guest(s) who is working on cutting edge methods and ideas to help struggling young people and their families. The archive of all the shows can be found at www.latalkradio.com/Lon.php.