http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-2/109678481818790.xml
Laura Maggi
"Many of Missouri's hard-core young criminals eventually end up in one of the state's locked-down institutions, graduating to the secure facility for committing a violent crime or being a chronic offender.
In most states, that would mean walking into the stark surroundings and often brutal atmosphere of an adult penitentiary. But once past the fastened double doors and tall wire fence at Missouri's Northwestern Regional Youth Center, the scene is more like summer camp or a college dorm than prison.
There's no razor wire, no cells, no uniforms for either staff or inmates. Bean bags line the walls of the group therapy rooms, and comfortable couches are positioned in a circle in the common areas. In the bedrooms, bunk beds are personalized with stuffed animals.
These surprising decorations, which are picked out by the teenage boys who live there, 'bring out the inner child,' said Sergio Guillen, 15, a former gang member who has been at the center for about 10 months and now gives tours to visitors."
