Escondido residents worried about planned group youth home

By: PAUL EAKINS - Staff Writer | Saturday, August 11, 2007 12:01 AM PDT ∞

ESCONDIDO ---- Saying they are concerned about their safety, among other things, residents of a largely elderly neighborhood near the Escondido Country Club are trying to prevent a group home for teenage boys from opening there.

About 20 opponents showed up at the City Council meeting Wednesday with a petition signed by 66 people asking the city to keep the home from opening in the neighborhood in northwest Escondido.

The petition said the residents were concerned about their personal safety, noise, supervision of the teens, increased traffic, parking issues and the potential for increased crime. City officials said they have little control over whether the home is located there.

Antonia Mitchell, who lives two houses from where the home is to open, told the council her neighborhood wasn't the right place for a group youth home and that residents hadn't been given a say in the home's location.

"This home is being foisted upon us without our input," Mitchell said. "We strongly object to the placement of this group home in our neighborhood."

Yoshita Conrad, the administrator for Circle of Friends, the Escondido nonprofit organization opening the home, said Friday she understood why the residents are concerned, but that they needn't be. The six boys who will live there won't ever be unsupervised, and they are more a danger to themselves than to anyone else, she said.

"Our kids were removed from their homes because the county deemed their homes to be unsafe, whether (the boys) were neglected or abandoned," Conrad said. "These kids have been through a lot. They deserve to be in a nice, safe neighborhood."

Although opponents have petitioned the city to keep the home from opening, there may be little local officials can do about it, said Jon Brindle, the city's director of community development.

Group homes for youths, the elderly, the disabled or other people in need that have six or fewer residents are licensed by the state and can be placed anywhere so long as they comply with fire codes and other municipal laws. The homes can't be within 300 feet of another group home.

"It is clear that state law significantly limits local jurisdictions' control over community care facilities of six or fewer beds," Brindle said.

However, city officials told opponents Wednesday they will hold a neighborhood meeting so residents can learn what action, if any, they can take and to inform them more about the Circle of Friends home. Opponents also sent letters to county officials earlier this month, but a county representative said last week the issue wasn't within county jurisdiction.

Residents said they learned the home was going to open there by chance about two weeks ago when one of them saw activity at the house and greeted the new neighbors.

Circle of Friends opened in 1995 in Escondido to provide transitional housing for teenage boys whom courts had ordered removed from their families' homes. It provides its charges with individual and group therapy, psychological evaluation, tutoring, independent living skills programs and other services.

The organization runs two group homes for teenage boys ages 12 to 17 in Escondido, but recently Circle of Friends said it was forced to relocate when the owner of the houses it had been leasing decided to sell the buildings. One home was relocated to a new house in July, and the new residents of the disputed home probably will move in the week of Aug. 20, Conrad said.

The new home has four bedrooms and two bathrooms in a clean, quiet neighborhood off the beaten path just south of the country club.

Mitchell said Thursday that the house seems too small for six teenage boys and that they may disrupt the peaceful neighborhood.

"In my opinion, it's an inadequate facility," Mitchell said. "It doesn't belong in an elderly (community) like this."

Conrad said at least one Circle of Friends staff member will be at the house at all times, day and night, except when the boys are at school. They will not be allowed to go outside or even catch the bus without an adult, she said.

But retiree Ted Cyr, who has lived in the neighborhood for 13 years, said Thursday he wasn't convinced the teens will be kept under control.

"If you're going to have six teenagers in there, (ages) 14 to 17, I don't see how one person's going to be able to take care of that," he said.

Though not an official retirement community, the neighborhood is full of senior citizens, many of whom are worried about the home, Cyr and Mitchell said.

"They're elderly and they're scared," Cyr said. "It's an unknown to them."

Conrad said that police often have been called to the Circle of Friends homes. At one of those homes in central Escondido, police responded to 21 calls from August 2006 through Friday, according to Lt. Bob Benton.

Of those, 19 were for runaway juveniles, one was for medical assistance and one was for assault, Benton said. No further details on the calls were available, he said.

Benton said that while the high number of runaways was notable, he was surprised by the rarity of other incidents.

"To have any kind of group home, especially dealing with kids all living together, it seems like a low number as far as the assaults go," Benton said.

Conrad said many of the boys have been abused or are "developmentally delayed," but they've never hurt a neighbor at the other group homes. The boys are learning to live in a normal household and a normal neighborhood, she said.

"We do want to be a good neighbors," Conrad said. "We don't want (residents) to be scared in their own home. I just wish the neighbors would give (the boys) a chance."

Contact staff writer Paul Eakins at (760) 740-5420 or peakins@nctimes.com.

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