Changing Directions

Every Saturday morning, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies attempt to push a reluctant group of teenagers in the right direction in a program called VIDA, for Vital Intervention and Directional Alternatives.

Gathering at 7, the deputies cajole, embarrass, insult, coax, encourage and work the youngsters hard. They say the things that parents are too timid, too frustrated, too powerless or simply too tired to say. And they hope that this time, the teenagers will listen.

As the latest group of teenagers, sent to the 16-week program by desperate parents--or by courts, social workers, schools or law enforcement agencies--gathered one recent morning for the first session, their parents watched silently. The deputies impressed upon their new charges that in this program--as in real life--there are rules to follow and consequences for breaking those rules.

They organized the group into four platoons, and the deputies explained that, from that day forward, the teenagers were responsible for themselves and one another. Several latecomers learned that the hard way when the whole group was told to drop for push-ups because they were tardy.

The boot-camp regimen, peppered with lots of yelling, comes as a shock to the parents, but some think it is important.

“If they land in jail,” said one father, “no one is going to hold the door open and say very nicely: ‘Please come in and sit down.’ ”

The program was started more than two years ago by Deputies Vince Romero and Drew Birtness. “When I started this, I just wanted to keep them out of jail,” said Birtness. “I was tired of arresting them. Now, it’s become much more.”

The program has spread to every sheriff’s bureau, and the deputies have cobbled together a mixture of rigorous exercise, writing assignments, counseling for parents and teenagers, drug testing, lectures by ex-convicts, former drug abusers and businessmen, and community service.

Of those who come to this East Los Angeles sheriff’s station every week, several admit that, while it is tough, they like the challenge and discipline.

As the East L.A. group of 34 students headed toward its Sept. 9 graduation ceremony, the deputies continued to warn the teenagers about what they can expect in the real world. “This program starts for you,” said Deputy Ricky Carroll, “the day you get out of here.”