Parents & Guardians - Information for Secure Youth
Your child is currently residing in the Secure programs at Prairie Lakes Youth Programs. These programs consist of Detention and Corrections. The purpose of this page is to familiarize you with some of the basic policies that will affect you.
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Telephone Calls
PLYP Secure Programs 320-231-1729
If your child was admitted to PLYP’s secure program, he/she will have the right to an initial phone call. Additional phone calls will be based on his/her efforts in the program and the level he/she attained. Residents will earn the same number of calls as the level they are on with 1 additional call. For example, level 1’s will have 2 calls per week, level 2, 3 calls, and level 3, 4 calls. Outgoing calls will be made direct with the request that parents call their child back.
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Phone calls are only allowed with parents, legal guardians, foster parents, and other professionals or other immediate family members approved by administration. Phone calls with other relatives or friends are not allowed. Phone privileges will be temporarily suspended if we learn that your child has been speaking to anyone other than parents, legal guardians, foster parents, other professionals or other approved immediate family members. PLYP staff has the right to monitor phone calls. Calls can be incoming or outgoing.
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Parents and legal guardians are welcome to call and talk to staff members about their child’s progress. We do ask that you keep these calls brief if you call after normal business hours in order to allow the staff to spend majority of their time with the residents.
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Visitation
If your child was admitted to PLYP’s secure program, he/she has the right to an initial visit with parents or legal guardian. Your child is eligible for additional visits during regular visiting times after the initial visit. Please call and reserve a visiting time. Detention residents are not allowed visits with siblings or other immediate family members.
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Parents, step-parents, and legal guardians are eligible for visits; along with probation, social services and PLYP approval. Siblings under the age of 12 are not allowed to visit. Siblings age 12 or above who are approved for a visit must be accompanied by a parent. Visits must be pre-approved and can be canceled based on your child’s behavior. Visits are typically 60 minutes in length, depending on how many visits we need to accommodate. Extended visits may be allowed if you live more than 2 hours from the facility. These extended visits must be pre-approved by administration.
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When you come to visit you will be asked to hang you coats/jackets and hats in the vestibule. You will be asked to lock up your purses and the contents of your pockets in the lockers provided. PLYP encourages visitors to leave valuables in your vehicle. You will be asked to walk through a metal detector so try to avoid wearing clothing/shoes/belts/jewelry that you may have to remove. No food or beverages allowed in the building. PLYP staff has the right to search anyone coming onto the premises and to deny admission to anyone deemed to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. All visitors must produce a picture ID upon request of staff FOR EACH VISIT. Visitors without proper ID may be denied visitation. THIS INCLUDES CHILDREN.
Younger children are not allowed in the main building and PLYP does not provide supervision of children. They will not be allowed to sit in the vestibule unsupervised. We ask that you do not allow your children to play on the grounds near the building or exercise yards as this is a distraction to the residents.
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Secure - Visiting days and times are as follows:
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Wednesday:
7:00 am to 9:00 am
3:30 pm to 4:30 pm
7:00pm to 8:00 pm
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Saturday:
1:00pm to 4:00 pm
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Sunday:
1:00 pm to 4:00pm
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Please call PLYP a couple days in advance of your visit to reserve a visiting time and to let us know who will be visiting. Exceptions to visiting times may be possible but must be cleared through administration. PLYP staff has the right to monitor visits.
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Clothing
Residents at PLYP are allowed only a certain amount of clothing. Any clothing beyond that which is allowed will be sent home with parents. Clothing may only be brought to a resident in order to meet the basic clothing allowance, to accommodate seasonal changes or to replace clothing that has been outgrown or damaged. We will not allow clothing to be brought in or exchanged simply for fashion’s sake. All clothing must be appropriate for a secure setting. No tight fitting or low cut articles of clothing allowed.
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Residents are allowed to send and receive letters while residing at PLYP. Stamps will be provided at no charge for letters required to be written by PLYP. Residents must purchase stamps for any letters they choose to send. Stamps will be available at $.50 per stamp and can be purchased with their daily allowance. Parents are allowed to bring in stamps for their children to use. It is the policy of PLYP to have all correspondence inspected for contraband. All correspondence will be opened and read to ensure compliance with security issues and PLYP policy before being given to the resident. Residents will not be allowed to receive any “junk mail”. All mail must come through the United States Postal Services. Mail will not be allowed to be dropped off.
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Mailing Address
Prairie Lakes Youth Programs
PO Box 894
Willmar, MN 56201
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Meetings & Reports
PLYP will make available to you, upon request, bi-weekly reports. Please contact a program director to request this report. PLYP offers an informational meeting on TruThought (PLYP’s cognitive based program); this is not a parenting group. This is a meeting to share with you what we are trying to teach your child while places at PLYP. We will also be addressing how we will be supporting your child’s behaviors. These meetings can be held at your convenience, we just ask that you contact us to set up an appointment. If time does not allow you to come to our facility to meet, we have an information packet that we can send out to you to look over. If you have any questions please contact PLYP (320) 231-1729.
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Sexual Abuse, Misconduct, & Harassment
At PLYP we have a zero tolerance policy regarding all forms of abuse. This applies to staff on resident and resident on resident. If you wish to file a report on behalf of your child please click here and/or visit our PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act) section.