Word gets out, help pours in for program for local troubled youth

By F.A. Krift
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, May 1, 2008

Bishop David A. Zubik blesses the new residence for teenage boys residence at Auberle in McKeesport, a faith-based program dedicated to youth and families.

In the Mon Valley town of McKeesport, Auberle, a faith-based youth and family service program, sits on a grassy hill on property that once was a farm.

The main campus' brick buildings overlook rows of single-family homes in these rolling hills.

It tends to troubled and neglected youth who sometimes are taken from their homes for safety or disciplinary reasons. The staff has been doing this for 56 years, mostly without a single boast for attention, CEO John Lydon said.

Something changed about four years ago.

The staff began to measure, document and promote successes.

"Auberle doesn't just sit up here on the hill," Lydon said.

With emphasis on promotion came more volunteers. Corporations committed employees and resources. Even the state, after never having given Auberle money, recently handed it $400,000 to build a residential building for older male teens. The nonprofit Catholic charity recently celebrated its opening.

Auberle is the largest residential provider for Allegheny County's Office of Child, Youth and Family Services, and has helped 1,900 youths and their families in 2007 across 10 southwestern Pennsylvania counties. With six campuses and 220 full-time staffers, it provides residential care, foster care, emergency shelter, in-home intervention, educational programs, mental health programs, and drug and alcohol treatment.

McKeesport Mayor James Brewster said it's hard to ignore Auberle's success. The facility is a "great partner" with McKeesport, Brewster said, letting civic leaders know what's happening on the campus and looking for input from the city.

"Others don't, and they miss out," Brewster said. "John embraces the process."

Lydon has been a part of Auberle since 1982 as a board member. The former trial lawyer became CEO four years ago.

Auberle doesn't give a sales pitch, Lydon said. The statistics speak for themselves, he added.

"We saw the value for us to be as good as we can be. We need to go out and tell our story," Lydon said.

Here's what Auberle officials tell people: Despite 98 percent of Auberle's residential children having failed in other programs, five of their six residential programs have helped at least 86 percent of their children.

Auberle's residents come to the facility chronically truant, but 30 percent of the high school-aged residents are on the honor roll, Lydon said. Nine out of 10 families in the Allegheny County in-home counseling program successfully complete the program.

The kids provide the best evidence, said Kyle Harder, Auberle director of intake services.

Bulldog Office Product owner Frank Fera, 76, of Upper St. Clair tells the story of Jamie Smith, 18, an Auberle resident who helped unload a furniture delivery truck without being asked.

Fera was impressed with the teen's initiative.

"I could give to other charities, but it's not the same," Fera said.

When word got out about Auberle, the state bought in. Rep. Jane Orie, R-McCandless, whose district doesn't include McKeesport, secured money for Auberle's 24-bed residence. She wants to keep supporting Auberle, she said.

"You never have accountability as far as where state moneys go," Orie said. "Here you know you're getting it. They show you the outcomes. They show you what they are doing. They show you the benchmarks of these kids."

The number of Auberle volunteers went from 40 to 400 in four years, Lydon said.

Donations increased from $446,000 in 2004 to more than a $1 million with two months left in this fiscal year, said Lauri Fink, Auberle's director of development.

"The idea wasn't to get our name out there and raise money," Lydon said. "It was to deliver excellence."