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| Collie Helps Bipolar Inmate |
| By Inland Valley Daily Bulletin |
| Published: 06/16/2003 |
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Much of Centner's fresh outlook on life can be attributed to a dog named Pilot. Centner, 23, who suffers from a bipolar disorder and has spent the last eight months in jail for receiving stolen property, has participated in a 10-week program at the jail called Passages, which pairs a mentally ill inmate with a dog donated from the San Bernardino County Animal Shelter. The objective of the program is for mentally ill inmates to train dogs donated by the animal shelter to obey basic canine commands including 'sit,' 'stay,' 'roll over' and 'come.' The result is twofold: Inmates cultivate personality traits and skills enabling them to function in the outside world and have trained a dog to the point it is ready for adoption. The program is being funded for three years with the state Mentally Ill Offender Crime Reduction Grant made available through the Board of Corrections, said Kathryn Wild, health services administrator for the Sheriff's Department. She is hoping the county can find a way to keep the program running when funding ends June 30, 2004. Researchers from Cal State San Bernardino are monitoring the effectiveness of the program and will report their findings, Wild said. That could possibly lend credence to the argument that keeping the program in operation is feasible. Although Centner said he requires mood stabilizing drugs including lithium to control his severe mood swings, the Passages program has taught him other ways of dealing with life's challenges. 'I learned a lot of patience, and how great success can feel. I learned coping skills,' Centner said. He even went beyond the parameters of what was expected of him by teaching Pilot, named after the pilot Passages program, to stay near while walking outside unleashed. 'I taught (Pilot) to go a certain ways and then to stop. They were pretty impressed with that,' Centner said of his supervisors at the jail. Tanya Miller, an occupational therapist for the county Department of Behavioral Health, said inmates are selected for the program based on their personalities and experience with animals. Centner was chosen for several reasons, Miller said. 'He wrote some compelling reasons, one because he wanted to continue to pursue a job in this area when he gets out, and he had a dog at home prior to being here,' she said. Centner said he may take some community college classes when he gets out and possibly continue helping volunteers at the jail train dogs as therapy dogs for inmates at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga. Whatever he decides to do, Centner said he feels lucky to have such options available to him, and that a dog named Pilot and a handful of staff at Glen Helen have given him a purpose in life. 'Or at least a direction,' he said. |
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