I wouldn't want one near my home. But, I do believe they need a place to be. Why not downtown?

A nice building with Dr.s close by.

Something like that.

Robb, perhaps actual property values don't go down on the face of it, but what will you REALLY get for your house when buyers know that there is a group home next door  full of recovering addicts. It also will definitely have an impact on how many buyers will be interested, and that will have an affect on the actual selling price as oppossed to the appraised price.

Having said that,  I entirely agree with the fact that there is a need for group homes and they are much more effective than going to Criminal College Prison. But being the selfish bastard I am....I don't want them next door to me. ; ) 

This may be apples and oranges because there is a difference between troubled teen and convicted molester, but here is a link that may show a study regarding Megans Law and housing prices.

Pehaps Mehgansmama or anonymous (is that you Nancy?) can better comment on it than I....

http://www.nber.org/digest/...

One group home, how about four, technically in two different wards but the same neighborhood, but that is Bakersfield…Life as it should be!

The tragedy is that they keep putting these kids in neighborhoods with no facilities to rehabilitate them; even public recreational faculties like the new Sports complex in the Southwest are planned for areas with few kids or kids that already enjoy all the advantages, something that City manager Alan Tandy loves to do.

However, it is the local residents fault that these areas pay for facilities in other areas that they themselves or their kids will never use as the keep electing Council person who fill space at Council meeting but produce nothing for the constituents. It got so bad at the last election that the Californian actually brought in their carpet bagging candidate through their connection to the Abernathy / McCarthy back door and sold him to Ward seven, and worse yet, the Ward voters bought it.

Between Carson and Carson associates in personal interest group homes, and Scrivners love affair with pushing the Abernathy agenda and helping Jacquie Sullivan save the world through Christ, the poor District one and seven voters get mega group homes and salvation but very little else.

All this is understandable, after David Couch and Sue Benham and Mike Maggard get their bite of the apple, there is nothing left, after all it is Tandy’s apple and he can share it with whom he pleases.

Anti..nope..I'm not Mehgansmama or Anon.  I've never posted under any other name except when I used my last name along with Nancy.  I have to agree with you that these homes need to exist and that it's really hard to accept on in your neighborhood.  The phobia extends beyond troubled teens and into the developmentally disabled group home.  There's one of those two doors down from me and there's never a problem with the residents..only with some of the workers.  Visitors with blasting stereos and stuff like that.  When the guy 3 doors down bought his house the group home wasn't disclosed (it was not required) and he was furious when he found out.  He tried to sue the association and the realtor and was threatened with a countersuit for discrimination.

how long of a comment can i leave? We have multiple group/foster homes in our neighborhood of every sort and it is a big problem. Where do i start. The foster homes on one street have regular foster children who are out of control. They wonder the neighborhood harassing anyone who askes them to behave. They egg peoples houses, TP them, beat up the neighborhood children, throw rocks at neighborhood children,steel things from peoples yards/garages, dent cars,  use every cuss word in the book, as do the foster parents, flip everyone off, the parents NEVER supervise them,  throw diapers with feces in them,rocks, trash, into peoples pools.licensing says that as long as they are being fed and clothed they really don't care about how the parents and children behave, the neighbors are afraid to complain becasue when you do the harassment gets worse and more frequent. If you talk to the parents, they cuss you out and call you a liar.  We are basically hostiages in our neighborhood. The school has horrible problems with them also. Then there is the probation home full of boys, they are raided regularly by the police hauling away the boys and they are scarey looking. the employees are just as scarey looking and blast that horrible rap crap with the filthy language in it as they drive these boys down the street. Real good rehab right? No it is just a cash cow, they could care less how these kids behave. And then there are the disabled homes. One of them let one of the higher functioning folks out by herself and she started a fire in the park. The police had a horrible time arresting her. And the home didn't even come looking for this girl for over 3 hours!! They watch them well don't they. Then there is the mens halfway house. They wonder the streets and they are pretty scarey looking too. I don't let my children out of the house without a parent with them. My children cannot ride their bikes or play in our front yard without being harassed on a daily basis by the foster children the bio kids of the foster parents. We have about 20 homes in our neighborhood and yes it is ruining our property values because the decent folks are moving out and what is replacing them is not too good because no one decent will buy here now thus running down our values.  this used to be a very nice neighborhood

And Nancy, licensing will not do anything because they cannot get enough homes for these people/children. I have been told this by the local agencies and the state agency. They don't care what it is doing to our neighborhoods. Decent folks will not invite this chaos into their homes leaving these people/children to go to families that are just as bad or worse than where ever they were removed from. I think a large institution where they can get intensive counciling is the answer, not terrorizing our neighborhoods.

I do see a need for them ,but as a mother of small children I wouldn't want them in my neirbhood.  
I went to high school with a girl who lived in a group home for troubled teens and she spent most her time in the office then in classes.  alot of these kids girls or boys need tp spend a couple of days out at lerdo and see what the furture holds for them if they don't straighten up.  I believe that with the righ amount of disapline,affection and motavation they can be productive members of society.  

working with Troubled Teens is a Hard thing and to really truly Help them they need a very strict enverminet  
if they are in the Right environment and Geting the Right  Treatment the teens Can and do Charge for the better
How do i know? My daughter is in a place getting The proper help But sadly she had to go out of Calif to get that help
because to many of the Places here In Calif do not offer what the kids need or they Give up on them .
the place were My daughter Is Not a group home  Rather a Treatment  Center but all of the neighbors  have no problems with the place . and The Community embraces these teens and when the teens get to a stage in there treatment  they are employed buy the Towns business .

 To seaweed NO spending time IN Lerdo Or Juvenal hall is not the answer that only teaches them  More Bad things and not how to  be a constructive  part of the Community  .

here is a link to the place were My daughter is at she has been there for 10 months and is not the Same child that entered she she is getting her education and is working  a part time Job .learning how to be a predictive  citizen
http://www.cinnamonhills.co...