For at-risk teens, a focus on life after high school

Heart & Homes youths explore professional options at Career Day

Most of the youths who showed up for the Thursday event at the Bethesda headquarters of USEC Inc. are offenders referred by the state Department of Juvenile Services, but some are runaways or victims of abuse. Many will soon turn age 18 and are contemplating life after high school.

The program resulted from a partnership with USEC, a supplier of enriched uranium fuel for nuclear power plants.

Roxine Behrens, an executive assistant for USEC operations who emceed the program, suggested that her own winding career path, which took her from U.S. Navy reservist to dance choreographer, could serve as a model for open-minded young workers.

Behrens also guided the participants through a computer module that suggested career options based on personality traits, though several had already made up their minds about their future.

‘‘I want to join the Army and do physical medicine so I can become a personal trainer,” said Nadine, 17, a German immigrant and current resident of Helen Smith Girls Group Home in Takoma Park. As with all the teenagers in attendance, Hearts & Homes requested that last names be omitted for privacy.

Guest speaker Jack S. Gilmore, a recent law school graduate and current manager of volunteer services for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children) in Washington, D.C., discussed the dangers of peer pressure and lamented the number of childhood associates who were now either dead or in jail.

‘‘The ‘in’ crowd when I was growing up are now the so-called losers,” he said. ‘‘Think about the approval and respect you want down the road.”

Crystal, 17, also a resident at Helen Smith, agreed with Gilmore’s assessment of how peer pressure can impede potential.

‘‘When I turn 18, [my friends] want me to chill with them for a while, but I don’t know,” she said. ‘‘I’m thinking about, from here on, just doing what I gotta do.”

Other speakers described overcoming challenges and relayed cautionary tales of their own. Terry Austin, an assistant controller for USEC, told of his experiences attending a segregated high school in rural Virginia.

Retired Metropolitan Police Department Detective Dwayne A. Stanton recounted the time he returned to his old neighborhood and arrested a high school classmate for stealing a car.

Hearts & Homes client Harry, 17, who lives in Bladensburg, didn’t need any warnings. He was released from a lockup facility less than a week before Career Day and is eager to leave his indiscretions behind. He plans to attend Prince George’s Community College and begin a career in computer networking.

Turning young people around is nothing new to Hearts & Homes President and CEO Rex Smith, who founded the organization in 1964 as a middle ground between state reform school and probation for juvenile offenders. Originally housing four boys in the attic of a Rockville farmhouse, Hearts & Homes has grown to serve an estimated 35,000 youths and has expanded its mission by offering a twist on traditional philanthropy.

‘‘We don’t talk about people donating, we talk about people investing,” Smith said. ‘‘We invest in the futures of kids.”

Smith is familiar with the process by which the state funds shelter programs, having served as secretary of the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services during a long hiatus away from Hearts & Homes. Still, he is frustrated that even while the state needs the services of independent shelters, the subsidies only cover about 75 percent of their costs.

Smith acknowledged that soliciting benefactors does allow Hearts & Homes to promote itself to the community and enable the children to learn from partners like USEC.

Still, at least one Career Day participant was ready to stop thinking about her future and start preparing for it.

‘‘I’d rather be in school,” Nadine said.