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[music]
For 7,000 lucky Alaskans, this paradise is known as home.
Ketchikan is located in Southeast. A maze of passages and islands direct you to its rustic port.
Once there many of the long time locals shed light on the town's remarkable history.
Today, residents fish the same lush waters and take pride in their tight-knit community.
But no picture postcard is perfect
and for Ketchikan that means finding, and using, the most innovative tools and team to help their youth during troubled times.
[slam]
"Hi! Welcome to Ketchikan Regional Youth Facility."
"The facility here in Ketchikan was put up as a...something that could do two things.
One it could help some kids to get through their day-to-day problems as a Crisis Stabilization Unit.
It was also set up as a full Detention Unit."
"I really love working with the kids and I never thought that I would be doing this kind of job.
And I was really scared when I first started, but I instantly just fell in love with it."
"Every day is different. You could be just having a routine check-in with a youth,
you could be escorting them on a flight for treatment, just getting to know them and what their needs are."
[David Garcia, Mental Health Clinician] "We've had kids go to college from here.
And, you know, learning from their mistakes so that they never make those mistakes again is just key."
"The kind of people we're looking for at Ketchikan Regional Youth Facility are the self-motivated individuals.
The ones that wanna help kids. They wanna help families.
They wanna work with the best equipment, they wanna work with the finest curriculums
and the best co-workers and make this a better community."
[Rob Austin, Juvenile Justice Unit Supervisor] "My name is Rob Austin, and my job here at the Ketchikan Regional Youth Facility is the Unit Supervisor.
I oversee both the Detention and the Crisis Stabilization Units here.
My recent decision to move to Ketchikan and transfer my career here has been a great one.
I love this area, I love the community, I love the outdoors. And anyone who has any interest in any of these things
should really take some time to take a visit here to Ketchikan,
visit our facility, get to know the community, and I think that you will find you will enjoy it as much as I have learned to enjoy it."
[Curt Gibson, Journeyman/Maintenance Man Level I] "If you want laid back, if you want...warm community, small town. There's nothing like it."
[Diane Lluellyn, Juvenile Justice Officer III] "It's kinda nature in your face, I think, everywhere you go.
It's just up close and the people are so friendly. Everywhere you go you make friends."
"You don't have to worry too much about your kids. You can see them play.
The churches are great. The schools are absolutely great.
And, um...the people here, everyone is really polite and helpful."
[Harry Martin, Juvenile Justice Officer III] "I think Ketchikan is one of the closest-knit communities I've been in with involvement.
Whether it be with family, sports, fishing. We have numerous fishing derbys.
We have parades, we have get-togethers, plays throughout the year.
We have, I would say, a semi-artsy community. Lots of arts stuff going on."
[John Jepson, Juvenile Probation Officer III, District Supervisor] "It's not a boring job.
You could be on a float-plane one morning, you could be on a jet the next day.
You could be making arrests later that afternoon. There's a lot of training. There's a lot of opportunities."
[Jane Kimura, Juvenile Probation Officer II] "Ketchikan, Alaska is wonderful place to work and live.
You can have a very satifying career with the Division of Juvenile Justice
and a very fulfilling home life and community life here in Ketchikan."
[key in lock]
[Robert Christopher, Juvenile Justice Officer II] "Working with the kids is a...
been a joy for me from day one. I really do appreciate the things I can actually learn from them.
They're better teachers than you can imagine.
Seeing their successes is a real boon to working in this environment."
"I can't hardly go anywhere without running into, maybe, a youth that I've worked with.
And they're always so happy to see you, you know.
Maybe they've been in Detention, but they always come up and say hi and let me know how they're doing."
"Facilities in Alaska, and specifically Southeast,
are smaller than what you'll see even up in the Northern Region, and certainly down in the states.
And that allows us to really build relationships with our kids.
And by building these relationships and having a strength-based approach
we can offer them the services that they need to succeed when they get out of our facility
so they can go on to live successful lives and don't re-offend."
[Dennis Weston, Acting Superintendent] "What we're doing is we're connecting
kids and families with services. And we're part of that process, we're not apart from it.
And by the time these kids are adults and they have a chance to look back on their childhood
and their connections with the Division of Juvenile Justice,
nine times out of ten they see it was a positive one."
[Linda Wahl, Coordinator/Transitional Services] "We are all working together
collaborating, cooperating, to put into place plans
that are gonna help this youth succeed once they do re-enter into the community."
"Our restoritive justice piece is really outlined in our mission.
And at the end of the day you've done something to restore the youth
and restore the family back into this community that is very interested in seeing them be a part of productive society."
"The people I work with are of the highest caliber. It's not just a job.
It's a ... it's a passion, they want to help kids.
They sacrifice their time, some people sacrifice their money.
They put their heart and soul into helping children.
You can't get better than that."
"If you have a heart for these youngsters, really, please, come and apply,
and come down here. We are looking for good people all the time.
And these youth need people that are going to be mentors to them as well.
Give us a try."
[music]
[hss.state.ak.us/djj/jobs/]
[A DHSS Public Information Team Production]