3 Comments Posted by snakesafe

One last post. The hospital sat on about one or two hundred acres of beautifully landscaped property, almost like a golf course, and not all wards were fenced in. From the juvenile ward, we could walk the park like grounds all the way to the main highway. Why didn't we run away or escape? We were so far out in the country we didn't know where to go. Besides, it was a heck of a lot better place to be than juvenile detention in Detroit or prison where they often threatened to send us.

Continuing my last post, as a juvenile patient at the hospital, I can attest to the treatment given by staff. There were weekly street parties with dancing, free roaming of the grounds, trips to state parks, a great arts program, and good food. Boys were separated from the girls, but there was socializing, both supervised and non supervised. Not every patient was the stereotype mental case, some kids were sent there simply because the parents couldn't deal with them and they weren't bad enough for the juvenile penal system.

As a young juvenile deliquent who ran away from home many times, I was sent to Ypsilanti Hospital to the children's wards. It was a wake up call for me. I do have pleasant memories of the friends I made there, both staff and other troubled teens, but especially of the social worker who got me into a foster home in six months. I then graduated high school, joined the navy and retired after twenty three years of service in submarines. At age 67, I have two wonderful kids, one having a Phd and the other an engineer. The hospital did change my life around. The hospital wasn't all that bad.