Stan Faddis, Probation Officer - Part 4, The Job

The Job

From the Santa Clara County Probation website regarding the duties of Group Counselors which, by the way, now starts at $21.94 per hour for part-timers: 

Assist in the supervision of a group of juveniles or adults detained in a detention facility.  Learn to organize and/or supervise leisure time activities, such as games, athletics, and crafts and encourage participation. Prepare observation or incident reports on detainees' attitudes, behavior, appearance, interests, skills, progress, and needs. Maintain security and safety of the facility at all times.

The Units

Since I worked in the Hall, the units we had then have been torn down and new ones constructed in place of them. The three units I worked the most were identical in style and I’ll try to describe them.

Upon entering the unit door from the main hallway one would see  a long hallway lined with cells on each side. There were a total of 26 rooms each designed to hold two minors and had metal bunk beds attached to the back wall and a metal open boxlike locker attached one of the side walls at eye level. The rooms were 8x8 feet in size, painted a beige color, and the beds and lockers were metal gray. The exceptions were rooms #1 and #2 which were single bed rooms meant to hold only one person. These held kids who were either a severe threat to themselves, too violent or had sexual issues that required that they not be alone with the others.  The beds in these rooms were made of a solid slab of cement and were the dimensions of a twin bed. All the bunks had a mattress that was approximately four inches thick. Each minor was issued two sheets, a blanket and a pillow. 

At end of that hallway was a supply room on the right which was about 10x10 feet. To the left was a large bathroom that had three toilet stalls, three urinals, three sinks, a large circular sink and a five sided shower post that had five shower heads so that five minors at a time could wash up. The shower was turned on and off by the GC behind the desk who could observe the bathroom as there was a plexiglass wall that ran the length of the bathroom. Minors were let out of their rooms five at a time to take a three-minute shower and then perform typical personal hygiene tasks.  

Turning to the right out of the hallway was a large activity area which had a ping pong table, a TV, 50 plastic chairs with metal legs and some 3x5 foot tables used for writing letters and playing cards, board games and dominoes. Through a locked door off that room was a large outdoor courtyard where the minors played basketball, volleyball or handball. There were also a couple of flat benches to sit on. The wall to the courtyard was also plexiglass.   

The chairs were lined up in a horseshoe configuration whenever the boys came out of their rooms to prepare to go to a meal or to school. This was called “set-up.” Once all the minors were in set-up, one of the counselors would go over what was expected of them on the movement to the next destination or activity. This was called “structuring” and all the GC’s took turns doing it. 

Following is an example of a structure in preparation to go on a breakfast movement to the cafeteria in another building: 

Good morning gentlemen. As you know, we are getting ready to move to the cafeteria for breakfast. You will walk in a straight line with your hands at your sides. There will be no talking until you are seated and no communicating with those in other units inside the cafeteria. Keep your hands to yourself and act like gentlemen. You're not allowed to bring back any food from the cafeteria so make sure you eat it all there. While it is okay for you to give away your food, it is not permitted that you pay off any debts that you may have incurred by betting which is against the rules. You will not take the food off anyone's tray without their permission. You're expected to keep your eyes forward and there will be no rubbernecking (looking around to stare longingly at the girls). Eat quickly and don’t let excessive talking slow you down. 

Structures were done prior to every group movement out of the unit to another destination on the grounds as well as before other activities such as going outside to the yard, watching a movie or TV show. Needless to say, structures could get very boring for the minors as well as the GC’s because they were they same instructions over and over, day in and day out. 

One day at home, I had a brilliant idea. I pulled out our cassette player/recorder, inserted a blank cassette cartridge and recorded a structure tape. The next morning I went to work with that tape tucked into my work bag. I advised the other GC’s I wanted to do the structure that day and we got the kids out of their rooms and into setup. It was the custom for the GC who was structuring to stand at the opening of the horseshoe shaped setup to give the structure. So, when it was time for me to do it, the kids and the other GC’s wondered why I continued to sit behind the desk, reading the newspaper. After a pregnant pause, giving them all time to wonder what I was doing, I reached behind and pushed “play” on the stereo system behind me. I had placed the the queued up tape in the player while no one was looking. I then opened up the newspaper again, covering up my face. A few seconds later, my recorded structure began to play.  the same old stuff in a flat monotone making it even more boring and painful. The tape ran almost ten minutes and covered every instruction in detail. The other GC’s thought it was  a great idea. The word spread and GC’s from other units borrowed it to play for their minors. It was such a hit that the tape was used everyday for quite a while. The minors moaned loudly when it was played and they dubbed it the “Torture Tape” because it was so painful to listen to. Mysteriously, the cassette disappeared from B3 after several weeks and was never seen again.