Los Banos Rotary Club History
Parole Officer Tells Of Work

Glynn B. Smith, Fresno, parole officer with the California State Youth Authority, recently gave members of the local Rotary Club an enlightening report of the work the Authority is doing in the handling of juvenile crime offenders, and in helping such offenders to rehabilitate themselves and become useful members of society.

Greatest handicap in the Authority's work today, Smith said, is overcrowded facilities and lack of trained personnel. Hundreds of youths committed to the custody of the Authority, are compelled to wait weeks and even months in jail before there is a vacancy in the Authority institution. In 1942, when the Authority was founded, there were 3,000 California youths under its jurisdiction. By 1950 the number had grown to 6,000, last year it was 10,000, and by 1966 Smith estimates the Authority must somehow handle a minimum of 16,500.

Mental and physical clinics are an early part of the boy's experience at the industrial homes, Smith said, as trained experts work with and guide him in the constructive things in which he is interested or shows aptitude. Meanwhile, field workers endeavor to learn about his parents and relatives, his home, school and community life. Such investigation, plus the boy's own cooperation, closely governs the time he must spend in the institution.
Working on the proven theory that a "poor home is better than a good foster home," the Authority seeks to release the boy as quickly as possible, under parole regulations, so he can re-establish himself in his own community.
Community attitude, Smith emphasized, is also very important in determining how quickly the individual boy can return home.

Pointing to the importance of community and school attitudes, Smith emphasized that in most instances the boy, acutely aware of what he has done, is afraid to come home and face his family, friends and community as a whole. A helping hand along the way, he said, will often do more than anything else, in relieving such fears, and aid in reestablishing the boy's confidence both in himself and his community.

March 27, 1957

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