Ranch Offers Last Chance for Many Emotionally Troubled Youths

Abandoned by his parents by the age of 4, the boy spent the next few years fighting, swearing and acting out. Adults at his group homes understood his anger, but the red-headed boy’s explosive temper made him impossible to adopt.

After living in seven group homes and with a foster mother -- all within five years -- the boy was sent to Canyon Acres. The Anaheim Hills ranch is home to about 30 emotionally disturbed children whose parents have been judged unfit to take care of them.

Living at the ranch, the boy discovered ways to manage his rage: cuddling a stuffed lamb, reading and listening to Christmas carols.

“We have to learn coping skills,” said the boy. He and other children interviewed at Canyon Acres are not identified to protect their privacy. “You can’t be hurting yourself or hurting others.”

The sixth-grader has been moved to a six-boy Canyon Acres group home about two blocks from the ranch, where he has more freedom to decide how he spends his time. That independence came after almost three years at the larger facility -- where each child has therapy for more than three hours a day -- and stints at seven other group homes.

The Los Angeles Times Family Fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation this year gave Canyon Acres $16,000, which helped feed the children.

Most Canyon Acres children have hopscotched between psychiatric hospitals and group and foster homes, each more strict than the last. Canyon Acres, said Executive Director Clete Menke, “is the end of the road for these kids,” their last chance to learn to manage their aggression and become adoptable or suitable for reunification with their families.

The children’s ages range from 6 to 12, with most on the older end. At the ranch, the girls live in one house, the boys in another, with a baseball diamond, playground and swimming pool in between. Sugar, the ranch’s goat, brays from the stables, where he lives with four donated horses. The children help cook meals in their houses, attend public schools during the day and participate in therapy.

Therapy focuses on helping children express their emotions and find appropriate outlets for negative feelings. They can ride one of the horses, scream from the top of the jungle gym or bicycle around its five hilly acres.

“I have a bad attitude sometimes, so I ride around and around and around until I’m not upset anymore,” said a husky-voiced 10-year-old girl who had been at the ranch about 18 months.

A drastic change, said Sheila Weber, director of programs, who remembered when the girl was brought from a home in San Bernardino County after too many fights with adults and other children.

On the trip to Anaheim Hills, four adults rode in the car with her to make sure she didn’t hurt the driver, Weber said. For weeks after the girl’s arrival, she had what Weber called “an incident” almost every day, trying to start fights, refusing to follow directions or screaming expletives on the playground.

Now, as she sits near the girls house, she seems eager to get back inside, where the others have started decorating for the holidays.

A sign above the door reads, “If in doubt, smile.” The girl has reason to grin: she has just been told that in January, if her positive attitude holds, she could be promoted to the smaller group home. From there, all it might take for her to find some stability would be a willing foster family.

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Money raised last year has provided $1.4 million to help children in need in 2005.

The annual fundraising campaign is part of the Los Angeles Times Family Fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation, which this year will match the first $500,000 in contributions at 50 cents on the dollar.

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Unless requested otherwise, gifts of $50 or more will be acknowledged in The Times.

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